Invasion
by mediahybrid117
Summary: A few humans have invaded the Underground and killed the caretaker of the ruins. They search for a certain monster with a blue and white color scheme in hopes of getting into a lab of some sort. OC oriented. Don't like, don't read. Plays along the pacifist run, but not before, nor after. Don't judge a story by it's crappy summary. Blood and swears, of course.
1. Chapter 1

"Sans?" Grillby asked, then he shook his head, "He's been coming in later lately. Normally about lunchtime." He answered and wiped the inside of a glass with a rag, "Every time he does come in, though, he's lit up. He seems very… happy." He said and set the glass down, picking up another and cleaning it.

"I've been noticing that too." Papyrus agreed, thinking deeply and leaning on the bar. "He's been coming home with new jokes, too. He even started picking up baking." He added, then looked up at Grillby, "Suddenly he wanted to learn how to bake pie! Absurd, right?"

Grillby shrugged, "It's making him happy." He said.

Papyrus nodded, "Yes, but he's missing out on work. He needs this job. Doesn't he have an outrageous tab here?"

"He just paid it off last night." Grillby shook his head. "He's clean."

Papyrus gave him a strange look, "Well, thank you anyway." He straightened up, "I'll go back out to look for him.

"Good luck." Grillby set down another glass.

Papyrus nodded and stepped outside, looking around for any possible place where Sans would be. He first checked the house. After knocking on his bedroom door and receiving no response, he figured that Sans wasn't home.

He then decided to check his post closest to the ruins. Though he wasn't there, he did find his footprints walking away from the post and toward the ruins. He took a deep breath and sighed heavily upon seeing Sans sleeping with his back against the door to the ruins. "Brother?" he called.

Sans gasped sleepily and looked up at Papyrus, "Sorry, bro." he wiped his eyes and stood up, glancing back at the door. "I'll come back now…" he started trudging towards Snowdin.

"Sans, why were you by the door?" Papyrus asked.

Sans stopped in his tracks, thinking for a while. "There's someone on the other side of that door, and she talks to me." He said.

"Like that flower did for me?" Papyrus asked.

Sans thought for a moment again, "You could say that." He smiled, "She's like my flower." He smiled brighter, then his smile faded. "Sh-she went back home and I fell asleep. I lost track of the time." He said and kept walking.

Papyrus watched him for a while, seeing that he had been acting strange. "Sans, are you alright?" he asked.

"Yep. I'm cool." Sans yawned, "Just waking up, y'know? I didn't sleep very well last night. How are your puzzles going?" He asked.

"Going great!" Papyrus beamed, instantly forgetting that his brother was acting differently. "No human shall _ever_ get past them!"

"That's cool." Sans smiled at Papyrus' enthusiasm, "Hey, what do you want for Christmas?" he asked.

Papyrus thought for a while, "Excellent question…" he said. "Oh! A cookbook!" he exclaimed, "With lots of different ways to make spaghetti!" he rubbed his hands together excitedly, "Variety is always nice. Plus I get the feeling that you may be getting tired of my spaghetti." He eyed Sans suspiciously.

"Not at all." Sans denied whole-heartedly, "Though… I do like the idea of the other 'pasta'-bilities." He sneered and looked up at the taller skeleton.

"Sans!" he groaned and rolled his eyes, "Why? Why must you know?" he asked.

Sans shrugged, "So I can let Santa know what to bring you this year." He simply informed him.

Papyrus lit up, "You think I've been good this year?"

"Always." Sans said, "But… Santa has his concerns…" he looked down.

"What? Did I do something wrong?" Papyrus gasped.

"Of course not." Sans winked, "He just doesn't want you overworking yourself. He worries about the potential head of the Royal Guard."

Papyrus thought for a while, "Fair enough." He took a deep breath and sent a closed fist into the air, "Then I, the Great Papyrus, will take tomorrow off!" Sans had been telling Papyrus this for years, at least since Papyrus had been obsessing with joining the Royal Guard. Papyrus would come home tired and had even fallen ill several times just by overworking himself. Sans never wanted to discourage his hard work, and Papyrus won't believe him when Sans tells him that all of his training is getting him sick, so he began telling him that Santa says so. Papyrus bought it every time.

"Sounds good." Sans smiled. His stomach growled.

Papyrus heard the rumble loud and clear, "Are you hungry?"

"Getting there." Sans confirmed.

"Fear not! I shall make the spaghetti meal of the century!"

" _For_ the _sentry_?" Sans corrected.

"Of the, not-" Papyrus froze upon catching the pun, "Not for the sentry anymore." He grumbled while Sans laughed.

"Okay, okay, does sentries sound better?" Sans corrected.

Papyrus bumped Sans playfully, "Fine." He said with a smile.

"How'd training go with Undyne this morning?" Sans asked.

Papyrus sighed, "No sparring today." He looked down, "Just another cooking lesson."

"But you _love_ cooking. You want a cook book for Christmas."

"I do." Papyrus nodded, letting Sans into the house first, "But… the thing is… I have more of a desire to become part of the Royal Guard, more than to be a cook, of a chef. But If Undyne keeps teaching me how to cook… I don't know…" he looked down, "Sometimes it feels like she's trying to get me interested in something other than the Royal Guard." He sat down on the couch, "Like she doesn't want me there…" he said sadly. "You _know_ it's been my dream since we were children."

Sans nodded, "I understand, bro." he said, then thought for a moment. "I've always wanted to be a scientist. Remember I had that job for a while? With Dr. Alphys?" he knelt in front of Papyrus so he could see him better.

Papyrus nodded, "You weren't there for very long." He noted bitterly.

"True, but that's because I realized that I found something that I love more." He smiled.

"And what would that be?" Papyrus asked.

"Being your brother. That's why I got the job for being the other sentry." He said, "I'm not saying that you won't like being a knight as much as cooking, but… I think what Undyne is trying to do is to widen your perspective. Give you a hobby." He said.

Papyrus thought it over for a moment, "So she's just helping me with a hobby?"

"Yeah, bro." Sans nodded.

Papyrus lit up once more, "Wowie!" he smiled, "She must be so excited with the hobby she must've forgotten all about our training!"

"It happens." Sans shrugged.

Papyrus stood up, "You must be starving!" he said and stood straight up, "To the kitchen!"

Sans smiled and followed Papyrus, sitting patiently at the table while his brother dug around for ingredients. His eyes began to drift closed and he fell asleep before Papyrus had the chance to turn around to ask how hungry he was. Papyrus scoffed and turned around to begin cooking. After he boiled the pasta, his phone rang loudly in his pocket. He quickly fished it out after jumping and answered, "Hello!" he greeted cheerfully, "Undyne! We were just-" he paused, having been interrupted by a panicked voice on the other end of the conversation. Sans had jumped up and stretched. "What!?" he gasped, dropping the pot of spaghetti on the floor.

Sans jumped again, "What's wrong?" he asked, attempting to help pick up the pasta and pot. Papyrus waved his hand to shoo Sans away, considering how hot everything was, Sans could very well burn himself.

"Y-Yes, ma'am." Papyrus nodded, kneeling by the mess, "Understood, ma'am." He nodded, a serious look washing over him. "I'll be right over." He said before hanging up. "Uh, I'm sorry, Sans…" he looked down at the mess that was made on the tile. "Uh… would you like to get something from Grillby's?" he asked, "I uh… have to go to the ruins… humans fell into the ruins and they've killed the caretaker." He said, still staring at the pile of pasta, "They're running loose and Undyne said she needs my help." He explained, then he looked up at Sans, then froze upon his expression, "S-Sans?"

His eyes were widened in shock and blackened in fear. His body trembled with rage and his fists were clenched. He finally closed his eyes and held his head, "No, no, no, no…" he groaned. "I- I'm going with you…" he said.

"A-are you sure?"

"I want to make sure… make sure you're okay…" Sans said grimly.

Papyrus watched Sans in shock, then he nodded, "Alright then." He stood up, "Let's get going then." He said, "Stay close to me."

Sans followed close behind Papyrus and said nothing. Though Sans was normally quiet excluding the puns and few words of encouragement, the silence unsettled Papyrus. He wanted to ask about the caretaker and if Sans knew her, but he had a feeling he knew the answer. He didn't want to provoke the smaller brother. "D-did you know the caretaker?" he finally asked.

Sans didn't answer at first.

"Or… maybe it wasn't even her, maybe it was-"

"She was the only one living there…" Sans cut him off.

"Boys!" a deep, regal voice called out from behind them.

The two skeletons turned around and found King Asgore trotting behind them. Papyrus gasped and knelt, "King Asgore!" Sans, however, just stood silently with one eye present, the other eye blank.

"Papyrus, there is no need for any of that…" The king tapped the trainee's shoulder and invited him to stand. "Are you two headed for the ruins…?" he asked grimly.

"Yes sir!" Papyrus nodded after straightening up.

"The… caretaker…" Asgore looked down.

"Is… dead, yes. Did you know her?" Papyrus asked, failing to notice the tension rising from his brother.

"Sh-she was my wife." Asgore let out a shaking breath.

Papyrus gasped, "Sans! You've been talking to the Queen this entire time!? Why didn't you tell me?"

Sans appeared to be in just as much shock as Papyrus, "I- I didn't know…" he looked down, his eyes darkening again, "I didn't even know her name…"

Asgore was silent for a moment. He took a deep breath, "Let us investigate…" he said, He was aware that the Queen had a friend, but he was never told as to who it was. He and the two skeleton sentries continued toward the ruins, however as they reached the doorway, Undyne looked down at Sans and looked up at Papyrus, "Send your brother home." She said.

"Undyne, he wanted to-" Papyrus argued.

"Papyrus." She snapped, "He is a liability. We don't know where the humans are, and if he gets hurt-"

"Undyne, he's fine." Asgore stepped in. "He knew her… he was her friend."

Undyne froze upon seeing Asgore then knelt, "I'm sorry about Toriel, your majesty."

Sans warmed at the sound of her name. He closed his eyes briefly and wiped them dry, sniffling silently and taking a deep breath.

Undyne stood up, "But with all due respect, if there are _any_ humans here with the intentions to kill, there could be a civilian casualty." She said, "I do not recommend that Sans stays here."

Sans had already begun wandering around, finding that they seemed to be in a basement of someone's home. Toriel's he could assume. He reached main floor of the home and found some photos hung on the walls. The monster he had been speaking to was a goat-like woman, as it was revealed she stood beside King Asgore and a young child resembling the two. He remembered the prince, and that long ago the prince had died after going to the surface and getting attacked by humans. The family was heartbroken, as was the rest of the kingdom. It was a dark day for the Underground. He took a deep breath and proceeded through the house. She had a lot of books sitting around, some joke books, some books on snails, romance books, adventures. He knew she loved reading and even offered to bring her a new book from the library and read it to her.

"Sans!" Papyrus approached him, causing for him to jump, "I'm sorry brother, but-"

"Undyne wants me to go home." Sans finished for him, wiping his eye again, "I get it…" he sighed.

Papyrus sank, knowing that Sans was highly upset about this. He sighed and knelt to hug his brother. "I'm sorry…"

Sans only accepted the hug, but he never pulled his hands from his pockets. "I should get going." He said and began walking off. "I'll text you when I get home…" he said.

"Please be careful." Papyrus suggested nervously. By the time he turned around, Sans was already gone. He sighed, "Be safe…"

Sans' feet crunched through the snow as he walked home. He'd teleport, but he wasn't in the mood. A huge confusing swirl of emotions twisted his magic stomach and made him dizzy. He finally opened his eyes again, catching a glimpse of footprints in front of him. They looked familiar, but didn't at the same time. They looked like Papyrus' but smaller, even smaller than Undyne's. He stopped for a moment, matching his own footprint. They were almost the same size, but the footprints were still smaller. His heart jumped, "Human…" he breathed, seeing that the tracks led to the village. However, they led behind several bushes that shook. He watched them carefully. His eyes blackened with suspicion. "I know you're back there." He called out, his left eye beginning to glow, "Either you show yourself, or I come back there. Your choice."


	2. Chapter 2

Sans didn't think they'd cooperate that easily. Yet they stood in front of him, shaking from the cold in their red recycling t-shirt, ripped jeans and black rugged sneakers. A red headband held their black hair back leaving only their bangs hanging just above their hazel eyes. Sans almost didn't attack them. They appeared too innocent to hurt Toriel, much less kill her. However, the sight of dust covering their clothes quickly changed his mind. His eyes glowed brightly and he pulled his hand out of his pocket to slam the human against the ground. "Why did you do it?" he demanded and walked closer to the human, "And where are the rest of you?"

"I-I didn't do anything!" the human cried, "I don't know where the others are!"

"So you didn't kill Toriel?!" he growled.

"Kill?" the human whimpered, "N-no! The goat woman was nice to me. I fell down here this morning and she was nothing but nice to me! Why would I hurt her?"

The anguish in the human's face made Sans have second thoughts, "Then why are you covered in dust?" he asked.

"Because the people who chased me down here killed her, she died in my arms…" the human sobbed, "I just want my mom…" they struggled to move.

Sans released them, that explained everything. It explained why Toriel didn't come to the door that day. She was busy taking care of the human that curled in on themselves in front of him, "Your mom?" he finally asked in confusion.

"Th-they killed her too…" they sniffled.

Sans quickly looked around, "Listen, kid, here's a bad place to talk about this. Let's get back to my place." He helped the child up, "I know a shortcut." He said, taking two steps and suddenly changing the scenery to the living room.

The human stumbled and looked around as Sans sat them down on the couch, "So…" he thought for a moment, "What?" he asked.

The human sank, "I fell, the woman took care of my injuries and made sure I was fed." They looked down, "I didn't hurt anyone…"

"Look, look, look." Sans rubbed his head, "So then… why did those other humans kill Toriel? Why are they here?" he asked.

"I don't know…" the human's eyes watered, "I don't know…" they began to shake.

"N-no, no, stop crying." Sans panicked for a moment, he sighed "Look, Undyne's probably gonna crack down on me and my brother when it comes to looking out for humans. She'll kill _any_ that she finds." He said, his eyes turning black. "If you didn't kill Toriel, then it's not necessary to kill you." He closed his eyes, "We'll have to hide you here."

The human looked up at Sans in shock, "Y-you're sparing me?"

"If Toriel thought you were worth protecting, then I trust her judgement." He sighed, "You can't-" his phone began ringing loudly in his pocket. He jolted and retrieved it, "Yo." He greeted.

 _"Sans! Is everything okay? Are you even home yet?"_ Papyrus' voice asked in a panic.

"Yeah, bro, I'm fine. I uh… When'll you be home?" he asked, glancing at the human sitting on the couch.

 _"It'll be a while… We're still investigating."_ Papyrus said in disappointment. _"If you're hungry, go to Grillby's. You haven't been over there just yet."_

Sans thought for a while, then sighed, "Okay, bro. Just be safe, okay? I worry about ya." He said, winking with a smile.

 _"I will. I'll let you know when I'm on my way home, alright? Bye."_ Papyrus hung up.

Sans pulled the phone away from his ear and slipped the phone back into his pocket, "Uh… probably best to not have you out in public. There' no telling when _anyone's_ gonna come through." He sat down on the couch next to the human. "Sorry about your mom, kid." He finally muttered.

The child looked down, "I'm sorry about Toriel…" they took a deep breath then let it out slowly and awkwardly.

"Didn't catch your name…" Sans said, breaking the long, awkward silence.

"Hazel." They said.

Sans nodded, his eyes were beginning to drift shut.

"So… what now?" Hazel asked.

Sans took a deep breath and opened his eyes again, "I'll have to keep you in the garage, since here in the house isn't really an option. Otherwise, I'd be more than happy to let you stay here. But… with everything that's going on…" he sighed, "Sorry, kid." He looked at Hazel.

Hazel nodded, "I understand."

Sans stood up, "I'll show you in. Grab you a blanket too, it'll be cold in there." He reached into the closet by the kitchen and retrieved a ragged comforter. He flopped the blanket over Hazel's head and led them outside to the garage where Papyrus had set up the cell for any human he captured, "I'll uh… I'll bring you something to eat later…"

Hazel stood a moment, "Take your time…" they looked down, "Toriel talked about you a lot… Sans, right?" they looked up at him. "Grieve if you need to…" they began trembling, "I know I still need to…"

Sans' eyes watered, Hazel's mother must've died shortly before they fell. He took a deep breath, "Okay kid…" he closed the door and left Hazel to themselves. "I'm going to Grillby's…" he mumbled and shuffled in that direction.

As he opened the door, snow blew into the bar. The patrons turned and looked over to see Sans. Instead of greeting him happily like they normally did, they grew silent after seeing how differently Sans carried himself at that particular moment. Grillby reached for a bottle of ketchup and set it on the counter with a small basket of fries, "Rough day?" he asked.

Sans was quiet for a moment, he lowered his head and began trembling.

Grillby straightened up and looked out to the rest of his patrons, who all had their eyes on him and Sans. He waved his hands, motioning for the patrons to leave. As the patrons filed out of the building, Sans shook harder, his hands shaking on the counter. "What happened?" Grillby asked, suddenly worried about Papyrus. "Is Papyrus okay?"

"Paps is fine…" Sans sobbed, "I was…" he sniffled, "I met someone…"

Grillby would have told him 'that's great' or 'congratulations', but obviously something had happened to her.

"She's dead…" he cried.

Grillby sank, "I'm… I'm sorry." He said.

"Humans have invaded… they killed her on their way in. I don't know where they are… but…" he looked away.

Grillby gasped, "I just sent everyone home!" he looked up at the door. He jumped up and ran outside, praying that his patrons were okay. He sighed in relief after seeing his patrons waiting patiently outside the door. "Is he okay?" one of the women asked.

"He uh… he met someone…"

"Well, that's great!" another patron said.

"She was killed…" Grillby said sullenly, "Humans have invaded the underground. It's not safe here. Go to your homes, lock your doors, stay inside until we know it's safe. No doubt that King Asgore and Undyne would order the same anyway."

"What about Sans?"

"He'll be fine, I'll take care of him." Grillby said, "Just go home, and stay safe." He said.

Papyrus and Undyne stood straight as Asgore paced in front of them. He shook his head and finally stopped, "Those humans are too dangerous to let run around the Underground." He declared, "If either of you two see a human, kill them on sight, do you understand?"

Undyne nodded, "Yes, sir."

Papyrus was a little more hesitant in answering, "Y-yes sir…"

"Is there a problem, Papyrus?" Asgore asked, his tone was firm and his gaze was harsh.

"No sir." He shook his head.

"Good, order for everyone to stay in their homes until further notice." He began to walk away. "And kill _any_ human on sight." He repeated before leaving.

Papyrus sighed and looked down.

"Papyrus?" Undyne called.

"Yeah?" he looked at her.

She reached up and grabbed his scarf, yanking him down to her level so she could look him in the eye socket, "This is your _one_ chance to be in the Royal Guard. Screw this up, and forever fuck up your chances, do you understand me?"

Papyrus nodded nervously. "Y-yes, Undyne." He stammered.

"I swear, if this is a repeat of the last human to walk through here, there will be no point in training you." She shoved him back and began walking back to Waterfall.

Papyrus straightened up and watched her leave. He sighed and retrieved his phone, dialing Sans.

 _"Hey bro, how's it going?"_ Sans' voice asked on the other line.

Papyrus paused for a moment, noticing his voice was strained, "Were you crying?" he asked.

Sans sniffled, _"No…"_ he said, _"Grillby had me try this spicy burger…"_ he lied, _"Anyway, what's up?"_

Papyrus sighed, "Go home and stay safe, okay?" he said, "King Asgore demands it." He began walking home.

 _"Okay, Paps…"_ Sans complied, _"I'll head home now."_

"Thank you. And please keep an eye out for any humans. If you see one, tell me where they are and I'll… take care of them…"

Sans was quiet for a moment, _"You sure you can handle that?"_

Papyrus was silent, unsure of that himself.

 _"It's not that I don't think you can do it. I know you can… but… bro, I know you better than anyone Underground… I just…"_

Papyrus closed his eyes for a moment, "My position in the Royal Guard depends on this task. Everything I've trained for has been for this. If I mess this up, then I'm a disappointment."

 _"Don't you ever let me hear you say that again."_ Sans scolded, _"You're an amazing person and you've never let me down. You could_ never _disappoint me."_

"It's Undyne though-"

 _"All Undyne knows is to break stuff. She's got the body of a model, but the mentality of a shark. She has a one-track mind, Paps. If she wants you to hurt someone, to_ kill _someone, then she is asking too much of you."_ Sans argued, _"Just come home, we'll play a few games, watch a movie or something, and you still owe me that plate of spaghetti."_

Papyrus managed a small smile, thinking of how much he'd rather spend time with his brother than to patrol and kill any human he comes across. "I'd love to, brother… but I have to patrol Snowdin for the day."

 _"Oh… okay then."_ Sans seemed to sink, _"Just be safe and stay strong, okay?"_

"Okay."

 _"Don't work yourself to the_ bone _out there."_ Sans audibly sneered.

Papyrus hid a laugh, "Sans!"

 _"I hear you smiling."_ Sans teased.

"I am and I hate it. I'll be home later tonight."

Sans walked to the garage and smiled, "Love you, bro."

 _"I love you too, Sans."_

Sans hung up and managed a warm smile, refraining from letting tears form in his eyes. His smile then faded, Papyrus' job depended on him taking orders. And those orders were to kill a human. He looked at the garage door, where a human sat on the other side. He turned and went through the other, smaller door. He looked around and craned his neck around to find the human in the poor lighting. He sighed when he finally found them. They laid with the comforter wrapped closely and tightly around their body. "Psst, kid, you awake?" he asked.

There was no response.

He sighed, going back into the house. He sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. He flipped through the channels, only finding infomercials. He rolled his eyes and turned it back off, staring up at the ceiling. There had been nothing to watch since Mettaton went haywire. He remembered seeing the show airing live when it happened. He was fighting the previous fallen human, Frisk, who had hit his switch and made him change to a more humanoid form. However, in the process, Mettaton had fallen and was physically damaged. When Mettaton got up, sparks were flying out of his head. His movements were choppy and disturbing. Sans had nightmares about it afterwards, and Papyrus would wake up screaming. Mettaton had turned around and swung his arm uncontrollably, knocking Frisk off the platform they were fighting on and sending them falling to their death. Papyrus was so upset by the tragedy that he jumped up to leave immediately, in hopes to help Frisk. Sans had jumped up to catch his panicked brother, but Papyrus had swung back his arm and hit Sans' ribs on his left side.

Sans moved his hand to cover that particular area, below his shirt and jacket, his ribs were cracked and were weaker than the rest of his body. So even though Papyrus' hit was directly on the area, it didn't hurt Sans too much. Papyrus still felt awful for it. As soon as he heard Sans' pained grunt as he fell to the floor, he stopped in his tracks and rushed to help him. "Sans… I'm sorry…" Papyrus was sobbing, "Your injury… I forgot- I…" Papyrus sniffled, "The human-"

"I know, bro…" Sans took a deep breath and put both hands on Papyrus' shoulders, "I'm okay. I'm okay." He said, "They're not cracked again." He hugged the taller skeleton.

As Sans got lost in thought, he fell asleep, snoring slightly on the couch. And though it would normally wake him up, considering the door was directly next to the couch, Papyrus was able to step inside without disturbing his brother several hours later. He looked down at Sans and smiled, gently patting his head before proceeding to the kitchen. He stopped for a moment, seeing the door to the garage was cracked open. He rose an eyebrow and peered into the garage, gasping in shock upon seeing what laid in the corner.


	3. Chapter 3

Papyrus closed the door and took a deep breath. He began shaking, his mind raced as he paced back and forth in front of the door. "Maybe I should call Undyne…" he muttered, "No, no, no… she'll be mad." He shook his head, "I have to…" he grabbed his head and leaned against the door. He took a deep breath and looked over at his brother's sleeping figure on the couch, "What will _he_ think…?" he asked himself. He rubbed the back of his head and sighed, building up the confidence to step into the room and materialize a bone in his hand. "Human…?" He called out.

Hazel stirred and groaned, looking up at the door and gasping. They briefly remembered that Sans had mentioned that he had a brother, but he never specified how he was as a person. They backed away and pressed themselves against the wall as much as they could.

Papyrus rose his hand, raising a bone out of the ground and aimed straight up at Hazel.

Hazel jumped away from the bone, rolling across the cell, "I don't want to fight you!" they yelled.

"Neither do I…" Papyrus forced out and held a hand to his head, shooting three more bones at Hazel without aiming. He was beginning to lose his form.

Hazel managed to duck under each of the bones. Despite Papyrus' lack of trying to aim, they almost hit them. "I didn't kill her!" Hazel barked, turning to dodge another attack. They took a moment to study Papyrus, who wasn't even trying at this point. "I had no reason to hurt her…" they watched Papyrus slide down to his knees, trembling.

"Paps?" Sans walked in, rubbing his eye. He looked up at Hazel, then down at Papyrus. He knelt to hug Papyrus, "I'm sorry, bro…"

Papyrus dropped the bone and hugged Sans back, balling up his brother's hoodie in each fist, "Sans… the human… Frisk…" he sniffled, "I just can't…" he sobbed, "I can't do it…"

"I know." Sans whispered, trying to comfort his brother. "Um… why don't you call Undyne… I'll talk to the kid, okay?"

"I don't want _anyone_ getting hurt…" Papyrus breathed.

Sans helped him up, "Go get something to drink, okay?" Papyrus nodded and shuffled away. Sans turned back to look at Hazel, the expression he wore told Hazel that normally Papyrus wasn't like this. "You'll have to forgive him. He's cool and all, but he's sensitive. Almost a year ago, another human fell down here and Papyrus befriended them. But… with the job we've got… he was ordered to capture them for King Asgore." He explained, "But… he couldn't bring himself to capture them. So he let them go. The human managed to slip past Undyne and was finally stopped by a machine that the royal scientist built, who was programmed to kill humans for their souls." He took a deep breath, "He went haywire though, he killed the human, destroyed them _and_ their soul, and turned on monsters, too. He is completely unapproachable…" he shook his head, "The last human's death destroyed my brother. And… to be honest… It messed me up pretty bad too…" he closed his eyes, "I won't decide what happens to you. And there is no changing Undyne's mind about who and what you are…" he sighed, wiping his eye, "The best we can do is… hope… that for some reason they decide not to hurt you." He opened his eyes and looked at the child sitting in front of him, their long black hair thrown around their face and their thin, slender frame tense. Their eyes begged for help, but they closed them.

"I understand…" they said, taking a deep breath. "G-go. Go make sure your brother is okay. Y-you're all he's got anyway, right?"

"I'm sorry, kid…" Sans started for the door.

"It's alright…" Hazel said sadly, "It's… not like I had anything to keep me here anyway…"

Sans had closed the door as Hazel spoke those words, but was able to catch them. He froze for a while. The child wasn't opposed to dying. Sure they were scared, but they were accepting it far too well. Sans took a deep breath and started for the kitchen.

"You know I can't do it, Undyne!" Papyrus snapped.

Sans froze and hid behind the wall, eavesdropping on his conversation.

"Not since the last-" Papyrus was interrupted, "Yes, Undyne, I know, but-" he growled, "Can you stop interrupting me!?"

Sans was able to feel the tension.

"No, you know what- I'm keeping the human here so I can stay here and feed my brother… I hadn't made him anything to eat yet and I promised him _this morning_ a plate of spaghetti." There was a pause, "You know what, Undyne, I didn't even capture the human, they were _already_ in the garage. Either they were hiding in there, or Sans captured them." He said, it then began to sound like Papyrus was chopping a vegetable. "Have a little more faith in my brother than just _that_. Sure he's lazy but he does actually _work_ … H-how do I know? I work with him! If he's not sleeping, he's actually working." He stopped chopping and sighed, "Please don't bring him into this, this isn't about him. Just come get the human and take them to Asgore… Don't kill them in my garage! That's the point of me calling you!" he groaned, "Fine, but no later." There was a slam following that last line and a moment of silence. The sound of chopping returned, but more aggressively this time.

Sans stepped into the kitchen quietly, taking a seat at the table, "That escalated quickly."

Papyrus jumped and turned around to face Sans, "My god, Sans, how long have you been sitting there?"

"Not long." Sans lied, "Just 'Don't kill them in my garage' and everything after."

Papyrus sighed in relief. "She's coming tomorrow morning." He said, "If the human is just as harmless as you say they are, then I'm not worried about them running away." He said and sprinkled yellow squash into the sauce that he had steaming on the stove.

Sans nodded and remained silent, knowing why the human really wouldn't run away.

"Sans, can you do me a favor?" Papyrus asked.

"What's up?" Sans perked up.

"I left my game controller in my room and I was hoping to play video games later, would you mind grabbing it for me?" he asked.

"Sure." Sans hopped out of his chair and started upstairs for Papyrus' room.

Papyrus waited until Sans was gone from the kitchen before reaching for a prescription bottle of small white tablets. He carefully opened it, retrieved one tablet and put the bottle back. After serving three plates of spaghetti and setting two of them on the table, he crushed the tablet and mixed it into the third plate of spaghetti. He took a deep breath and started for the garage, spaghetti in hand. "Human?" he called out, "I'm… sorry we got off on the wrong foot." He apologized, seeing the human silently sitting in the middle of the cell in front of the bars. "I made you something to eat." He said and slid the plate through the bars, "I thought you might be hungry."

"Thank you…" Hazel said and took the plate, "Papyrus, right?" they managed a small smile, "Smells good."

Papyrus forcefully returned the smile, "Thank you." He said, "And… I'm sorry…" he said before standing up to walk away.

"You're only doing your job…" Hazel nodded, "I understand." They said before eating.

Papyrus sighed and closed the door, returning to the kitchen, where Sans was holding the same prescription bottle Papyrus had opened before, "Did you take one of my sleeping pills?"

"No." Papyrus lied, "You took an extra one last night, remember?"

Sans thought for a while, then shrugged, "Sounds about right." He took one and put it in his mouth, retrieving a glass of water and chasing it down.

"Spaghetti is ready," Papyrus announced and sat Sans down, "Bon appetit!" he smiled.

Sans chuckled.

"What?" Papyrus looked down at him, then paused catching the line that would've made Sans laugh, "Damn it, Sans." He rolled his eyes and reached in the fridge for a bottle of ketchup, "Take your stupid ketchup." He set it on the table next to Sans' plate.

Sans laughed, "Love you, bro."

"Love you too, Sans." Papyrus sat down and began eating. As they ate, Papyrus noticed that Sans was quieter than usual, and even seemed more spaced-out. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Sans nodded, but it was still obvious that something was bothering him.

"What's wrong?" Papyrus asked.

"The kid's got me worried…" Sans sighed, slowing down with his food, "The humans that killed the queen apparently killed their mom too."

Papyrus gasped, "They are without a mother?"

"Don't make this change your decision." Sans said quickly, "What's done is done." He sighed, "They're just…" he pushed around the spaghetti, "I dunno… the kid's depressed and it's really bumming me out."

Papyrus looked down, "I don't want them getting hurt… But I definitely don't want anyone to be in danger in the underground either." His phone began to ring. He checked the ID and rolled his eyes, "It's Undyne… I have to take this." He got up and answered, "Hello?"

"Papyrus, we found another human." Undyne said, at the moment, she stood over a man with his hands and feet tied together, "I decided to interrogate them before I kill them." She said, "Turns out they're here looking for a certain monster." She held a boot on his back as he laid face down on the ground, fighting for breath.

 _"_ _A monster? Any that we know?"_

"They say a male monster that's blue and white." Undyne answered, "A powerful blue and white monster. From the sounds of it, they're looking for your brother."

 _"_ _S-Sans? Why him? Are we sure it's him?"_

"I'm sure. We don't know any other blue and white monsters." Undyne said.

 _"_ _But… powerful?"_

"You've never seen him use his powers, have you? He has magic just like yours, and considering that he's older than you are, he's got better control over them." Undyne said, "I'd keep him hidden if I were you. Don't let him leave the house, and if he leaves the house, don't let him out of your sight."

 _"_ _Y-yes ma'am!"_ Papyrus' voice was now nervous, _"Thank you."_

"No prob." Undyne nodded and held a spear of energy over the center of the man's back, "I'll see you tomorrow morning for that other human. Maybe I'll interrogate them too." She said, "Get some more information."

 _"_ _Would that mean you'd spare them?"_ Papyrus asked, almost hopefully.

"Of course not." Undyne said, sending the spear straight through the human's back, they let out a loud, agonizing groan, loud enough or Papyrus to hear. "I'll kill them too." She said simply. "Any and all who killed the queen, shall die like she did."

 _"_ _Y-yes ma'am…"_ Papyrus said, his voice shook in disgust. _"See you tomorrow."_

"Later."

Papyrus took a deep breath and gagged. He knew what she did. He took a deep breath and walked to the kitchen, hugging Sans tightly.

"Ribs, ribs, ribs!" Sans gasped.

Papyrus loosened his hug, but didn't let go.

"Paps?" Sans asked, "What's wrong, bro?"

"The humans…" Papyrus started, "They're looking for _you_."

Sans was quiet for a moment, debating whether or not he should panic, but he decided on playing it off instead, "That's weird." He pat Papyrus' hand, "I'll be okay, bro." he said, "Don't worry about me, okay?" he yawned loudly, "And the sleep meds are starting to kick in." he said.

"Don't leave the house, okay?" Papyrus said, "I don't want them to hurt you."

Sans sighed and returned the hug, "Okay, bro."

"Now go to bed." Papyrus let him go, "You must be _bone tired_." He sneered.

Sans laughed, "Took the words right out of my mouth."

"Good night, Sans." Papyrus smiled.

Sans waved, "G'night." He said and went upstairs.

Papyrus waited for a while until he was able to hear Sans snoring upstairs. He took a deep breath and went to check on the human, finding that they had not only finished all of the spaghetti, but had fallen into a deep sleep. He nodded successfully and retrieved the plate. After putting the plate away and cleaning up in the kitchen. He returned to the garage. He stepped into the cell and carefully laid Hazel on the blanket, wrapping them up carefully and making sure they were warm. After Hazel was bundled in the blanket, Papyrus pulled a corner over their face and picked them up effortlessly. He took a deep breath and left the garage, "I'm glad you liked the spaghetti…" he said, knowing that the human won't reply. "I hope you don't get mad…" he continued walking, making his way north, finding the river person, "Waterfall, please…"

The river person nodded, allowing Papyrus and his mysterious package onto the boat. They rowed peacefully, humming softly and singing to himself. "Take care of yourself, Papyrus."

"Thank you." Papyrus nodded, "You too."

The river person nodded, "Beware of the humans." They said, then stopped at a dock in Waterfall, "However, one seems to be lost and be found. They will not harm, so be wary of the humans you find." They said.

Papyrus stepped off, "I- I'll keep that in mind." He said. "I'll be back, don't go anywhere."

The river person nodded.

Papyrus began looking around, he took in the sight of the glowing blue flowers and water. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He finally found a corner with a bench, he carefully laid Hazel on the bench and sat down, seeming uncomfortable, "I'm doing this for you, human," he started, "You already remind me of a friend I lost almost a year ago. Which was why I can't kill you. Undyne is coming to my house tomorrow and she's going to find that you're not there. I'm going to tell her that you ran away, alright? I can't risk anything happening to Sans…" he sighed and walked away, "He's all I have…"


	4. Chapter 4

Papyrus woke up the following morning dreading what he was going to have to endure. He laid in bed for as long as he could before forcing himself to get up and get changed. He put on his armor, threw on his scarf and pulled on his gloves. After finally stepping into his boots, he made his way downstairs and started preparing breakfast. When he walked into the kitchen, he jolted at the sight of his brother asleep on the table, "Uh- Sans?" he called and gently shook him awake, "Sans, what are you doing down here?"

"I got hungry…" Sans mumbled sleepily.

Papyrus rolled his eyes and picked up Sans with ease, "I'm going to make breakfast, okay? You just rest up. Did you sleep okay?"

"Better than most nights…" Sans grunted, his eyes stayed closed, for all Papyrus knew, Sans could just be responding in his sleep.

Papyrus sighed and rested him on the couch in the living room. Undyne was typically up very early and was most likely on her way over. He quickly checked the time, finding that it was 8:35. "She's definitely on her way." Papyrus breathed,

"You got this, bro…" Sans muttered and sleepily clenched his fist victoriously, then dropped his hand and began snoring again.

Papyrus only smiled for a split second, only knowing how much trouble he was going to be when Undyne found out that the human 'escaped'. And in even more trouble _if_ she discovers somehow that he released them. He sighed and started for the kitchen, preparing something to cook and bouncing on his toes to get himself motivated and pepped up. If he seemed to be the slightest out of character, she'd figure everything out. She knew he wasn't too good with lying. He was too much of an honest person, he knew this. His thoughts were interrupted when the door knocked. As he started for the door, Sans had already answered it, "Undyne, you're here early." He yawned.

"Where's the human?" she asked curtly.

"Sheesh, good morning to you too." Sans sat up at rubbed his eyes, "They're in the garage, go talk to Paps." He said.

Papyrus met with Undyne at the doorway to the kitchen, "Morning, Undyne! Would you like some-"

"Cut the crap, Papyrus, how me the human." She growled.

Papyrus was hurt that she interrupted him in such a way, but he had a feeling she would. He sighed and turned off the stove. He led her to the garage and mustered the confidence, "Behold, the human!" he swung the door open and showed her the empty garage.

She stepped in and looked around, checking around the thick bars and even studied a pile of blankets, "There's nothing here." She said flatly, "Papyrus, you said you had a human, where are they!?"

Papyrus looked around the cell, pretending very well that he was shocked, "Th-they were just here! I saw them!"

"Did you have a human in here at all?!" Undyne asked with rage.

"O-Of course! I wouldn't have called you otherwise!" Papyrus backed away.

" _This_ is why you're never going to make the Royal Guard!" she snapped, "How did I expect you to keep track of a human that _can_ escape when you can't even keep track of your own brother who's too lazy to take care of himself?"

Papyrus flinched, "But- Undyne…"

"But _nothing_!" she barked, "You had _one_ job, Papyrus, and you even managed to fuck _that_ up! You've let your standards and morals get in the way of your job, and what's worse? Your own brother's _safety_." She growled, "I don't know _what_ Sans did to piss off the humans, but you're doing an outstanding job at protecting him." She said with every bit on venom in her voice.

Papyrus' eyes watered, "I- I'm.." he began shaking.

"How can we trust someone to protect the kingdom if he can't even protect is brother?" Undyne asked.

"That's enough!" a voice barked as Undyne was thrown against the wall.

Papyrus turned around and saw Sans standing behind him, his hand was raised to his left, in the same direction in which Undyne went flying, his left eye glowed brightly while the other was vacant. "S-Sans?"

"Paps, go to your room, I'll meet you there."

"Sans…?" Papyrus asked, having only seen Sans like this once.

"Please?" Sans clenched his fist.

Papyrus nodded and walked off.

Undyne groaned, "It's been years since you've done _that_." She forced herself up after Papyrus was gone.

"It's been a few hours." Sans corrected, "I captured the human. How they escaped is beyond me." He growled, putting his hand down at his side. "Now… back to the topic at hand…" he raised his hand and quickly brought it down, his eye glowing brighter. Undyne was pressed to the ground, "You _promised_ , you'd keep him happy."

"You're bring this up now?" she grunted.

"Listen, twelve years ago, a little boy told me that he wanted to be in the royal guard. You promised me that you could make that happen." Sans' tone was beginning to harden.

"I didn't realize how soft your brother was!" Undyne growled, "He's _too_ soft! You _know_ this, Sans!"

"At least he's not like any of your 'guard' dogs!" he snapped, "At least he's got the attention span!"

"I wonder sometimes."

"Yeah? Well sometimes I wonder if you even know how to care for someone other than your own goddamn self!" Sans snarled.

Undyne struggled under Sans' telekinetic hold, "It's because I care about Papyrus that I don't want him in the royal guard!" Undyne snapped back, "He's too nice, Sans. And with those humans after you, they'll kill him just to get to you! Think about that! Whatever the hell you did to piss them off, has the entire underground in danger!"

"I don't know what the hell I did to piss of the humans. The last human I interacted with was the one the Mettaton killed when he went haywire. The _same_ human, by the way, that Papyrus _loved_ so much, that he couldn't treat them as his prisoner, he treated them as a friend."

"He was supposed to follow orders!"

"You're asking too much of him!" Sans barked, then he sighed, his hold on Undyne began to weaken, "Papyrus has always been a nice guy… he's… he's always seen the good in people. He never wanted to hurt anyone…" he sat down and held his head, letting her go completely. "I just wanted him to be happy." He said, "If being in the Royal Guard will make him happy, then let him be in the Royal Guard. If he wants to be a chef, then let him… whatever makes him happy is what I want for him…" he said, his tone had softened drastically, "I'll do anything for him."

Undyne pushed herself to her feet. She stumbled for a moment and watched Sans.

"R-remember that time… a few months ago where he _couldn't_ come into work?" he asked.

"Yeah, he was injured, wasn't he?" Undyne asked, unsure as to where this conversation was going.

"Badly." Sans nodded. "That flower he was talking to… that _stupid flower_ …" he sighed, "Was actually a pretty powerful monster." He said. The thing made Papyrus a deal and though Paps appreciated the offer, he said no. That flower attacked him with vines and roots…" Sans said, his expression beginning to harden, his eye started glowing, "If I didn't hear Papyrus' screaming, he'd be dust…" he took a deep breath, "Once I was able to get him free and untangled from the roots, I blew that little fucker out of the ground." He said.

Undyne was silent for a while, "Paps _never_ told me about that."

"He was too embarrassed… he didn't want to tell you he got injured because a flower kicked his ass…" Sans explained, "I didn't like that damn flower…" He said, "After the human, Papyrus began coming home more and more nervous… to the point where he started having night terrors." He took a deep breath. "That flower was scaring him, and eventually I told Papyrus that… maybe he should _stop_ talking to the flower if he was bugging him so much. And Papyrus listened. But that flower followed him." Sans smirked and closed his eyes, "That bud pissed off the wrong skeleton." He then opened his left eye and looked at Undyne, "Ya get the hint."

Undyne rolled her eye, "I get it, if I piss you off, I'll be dust and Alphys will be single." She sighed, "Alright…" she stood up, "Now I gotta go find that damn human that got away."

"I'll go talk to Papyrus." Sans stood up. "Sorry I attacked you like that." He apologized.

"I get it, you were only protecting your brother." She sighed, "Listen… When you talk to him… tell him that I'll give him another chance at getting into the royal guard. You're right… asking for him to kill a human is asking too much. The least he can do is capture them. _I'll_ do the dirty work."

"Thanks." Sans smiled and started upstairs, "Give us a call if you find them, okay?"

"Will do."

Sans sighed and continued upstairs. When he finally reached the door to Papyrus' room, he knocked. "Yo, Paps?" he called.

There was only silence.

"Papyrus?" Sans called again, fining it strange that Papyrus didn't answer. He opened the door and looked around, "Papyrus? Papyrus?!" Sans gasped and ran through the room, only finding the window open, "Paps!" he called and ran to the window, looking below. Below the window, were tracks that indicated that Papyrus did indeed jump, but rolled as he landed. Footsteps led away from the disturbed snow, indicating that Papyrus began running after he landed. "Papyrus!" Sans yelled and rand down the stairs, out the door and almost into Undyne as she walked away.

"Sans?" she gasped, clearly getting caught off-guard, "What's wrong?"

"Papyrus ran off!" he called, turning around quickly and turning back to face where he was running.

He followed the footprints until he reached Waterfall, where the footprints vanished altogether. "Papyrus!" he called before collapsing to his knees, winded and exhausted. He coughed and wheezed as he grabbed his left side.

Undyne finally had the chance to catch up, "You okay?"

Sans gasped for breath, "Gimme a minute…" he coughed.

"Is that _your_ injury? Or because you're out of shape?" she asked.

"Fuck you." He panted, using his free arm for support.

Undyne paused and looked around, "Something's kinda fishy around here…" she squinted.

"You sure it's not you?" Sans asked, forcing himself to his feet.

"Sans, make another joke and I'll hurt you." She said, "I'm being serious." Her phone rang. She sighed and answered it, "King Asgore." She answered, authority returning to her voice.

" _We found another human._ " He informed her, " _They had met Mettaton, so they were horribly mangled._ " He said.

Undyne cringed. A good majority of Hotland was evacuated just to avoid getting hurt by Mettaton. "Okay…?"

" _Apparently there's three more… the human died before we can find out where they are._ "

"Great." Undyne sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She looked down to Sans and found him missing.

" _And they're here for Sans?_ " Asgore asked.

"Apparently?" Undyne confirmed, slightly panicked and looking around nervously.

" _Keep him hidden._ " Asgore commanded, " _Don't let him leave your sight. Tell Papyrus the same._ "

"Uh, sir? Papyrus ran off and Sans went running after him." She explained, "I don't know where either of them are…"

" _Find them and get them home. Make sure Sans if safe and Papyrus is watching him._ "

"Yes, sir." Undyne nodded. "I'll let you know when I find them." She said and hung up, "Sans!" she yelled and ran through Waterfall.

Sans turned a corner and sighed in relief, seeing Papyrus sitting on a bench holding the comforter they had given Hazel, "Papyrus!" he called and hugged the taller skeleton, "Thank god, you're okay! You had me worried!"

Papyrus only wrapped one arm around Sans.

"What's wrong?" Sans looked up at Papyrus.

"Listen…" Papyrus pointed to his ear.

The two fell silent, then they began to hear whispering.

There was a quiet groan, then there was a voice, _"Hey, a whispering flower… hmm… Papyrus… If you come back to check on me, and I'm not here… I just want to thank you for sparing me. Though… sparing me is basically pointless. I… don't realy have much to live for here… nor do I have anything on the surface. The humans killed my mom… they killed my dad… escaping to the Underground was my only hope and even_ that _was useless… My only objective now is to look for someone named Gaster… My mom said that he should be able to help me."_ There was a sigh, _"Thank you, and I thank Sans, both for your hospitality. I'm going to Hotland, hopefully to find Dr. Alphys, who I'm told is the only one who can take me to Gaster… Thank you again, and I'll see you on the other side."_

There was a silence, then the flower spoke again, _"Papyrus! Thank god you're okay! You had me worried!... What's wrong?"_ it repeated the previous conversation, _"Listen…"_


	5. Chapter 5

The two sat for a while and thought for the longest time in silence. Papyrus' body shook and he took deep, shaking breaths. "D-don't tell Undyne…" he sniffled.

Sans nodded, "Okay, bro…" he agreed.

There was another long moment of silence, until Papyrus spoke up again, "Sans…?"

"What's up?"

"The human said they're going to Hot Land…" Papyrus pointed out, "Isn't Mettaton still there?"

Sans paused, then he looked down, "I… I hope they find what they were looking for… before Mettaton finds _them_."

Papyrus nodded, then he buried his hands in his face. "I tried to save them, Sans…" he sniffled. "I messed up… I… I can't do this…"

Sans looked at Papyrus and watched him for a while, "It'll be okay, bro… I promise."

"Sans!" Undyne shouted, turning the corner, "Sans, where'd-" she let out a frustrated sigh and ran to the two skeletons, "Sans, you idiot! With your condition and with those humans out here they'd-" she grew quiet when she saw Papyrus, it took her a moment to figure out what was going on. "Hey- what's going on?" she asked.

Papyrus took a deep breath and choked down his tears, straightening up and looking at Undyne, "I- I don't want to be in the Royal Guard anymore." He said.

Undyne and Sans both gasped, and though Sans was almost inaudible, Undyne took a full step back in shock. "Wh-what?"

"If it means I have to kill, or hurt anyone…" he took a deep breath, "Then I don't want it."

"Listen, Papyrus, if this is because of what I said-"

"I can't do it, Undyne!" Papyrus cut her off and stood up. "I can't!" his breaths grew heavy, "I give up. I quit. I can't hurt a human… I wouldn't! I don't have what it takes! I'm no hero! I'm a traitor!"

"Why? Because you spared a human!?" Undyne asked, causing Papyrus to flinch. "I _knew_ you were going to spare them!" she said, rage bubbling in her chest, "I knew you weren't going to kill them!"

Sans began to tense up, his eyes darkened.

"So what if you don't have what it takes!" she growled, "But quitting!? Giving up?!" she asked, "That's _not_ the 'Great Papyrus' that I know! That your brother knows! You're ambitious! Headstrong! Compassionate, determined, tenacious, not to mention one of the brightest damn people I know." She panted, "And you don't think you've got it?!"

Papyrus grew confused, sitting back down awkwardly.

"You are twice the hero that I am!" she said, "Parents want their kids to be like you, not me! I'm a loud, rude, bitch! I'm not a nice person! I know this!" she finally sighed, "Listen… You have what it takes, but maybe you can't kill someone or effectively keep someone captive. You have the characteristics of a Royal Guardsman, but…" she sighed, "You… seeing the good in everyone… It's gonna get you killed. And… I don't want to see that happen. I promised your brother to make you happy, and…" she scoffed, "You can't really be happy if you're dead." she smiled, "We love you, Papyrus. Which is why I can't let you into the Royal Guard…" she saw Papyrus' eyes water again. "I'd get it if you were mad at me… but please understand why I tell you this."

There was a long moment of silence, Papyrus bowed his head. Sans sat beside him, unsure as to how to react, and Undyne eventually lowered her head and closed her eye.

Papyrus jumped up and hugged Undyne, squeezing her tightly, "Why…?" he sniffled, "Why didn't you say something before?"

"What?" Undyne asked, hugging Papyrus back, "Uh…Y-you know how hard it is to tell you no?" she laughed nervously, "You're like a little brother to me, you know that?" she smiled, "Besides, I don't even want to start to think of what Sans would do to me if you came home heartbroken." She looked at Sans, who was snickering at her.

"If you had said something earlier, I would have understood. If you guys love me _that_ much, I would have aspired to something greater!" he smiled, confidence returning back to his voice, "I'll be a master chef!" he paused, "D-does this mean you won't teach me to cook anymore?"

Undyne laughed and get him go from the hug, "You kidding me? I would love nothing more than to teach you to cook."

Sans sat back on the bench and smiled.

Papyrus looked down, "Undyne…" he sighed, "I- I let the human go…" he confessed, then waved his hands before she could say anything else, "But the human was harmless! They… they're in grief. Their parents were both killed by the other humans and they just came here to escape. They're looking for someone, they wanted to get help from Alphys!"

Undyne shook her head, "Who are they looking for?"

"Gaster… whoever that is." Papyrus shrugged.

Undyne paused, thinking for a good long while. Then she gasped, "Oh…" she looked at the two skeleton brothers in front of her. "G-Gaster…" she looked down, "Gaster's been long gone…" she said.

Papyrus gasped, "So the human's going to Hotland for no reason! They're in trouble!" he started running toward Hotland, but Undyne grabbed his upper arm, "No, Papyrus, go home." She scolded him, "You need to keep an eye on your brother, make sure he's safe." She argued, "The other humans are after him, we can't leave him alone."

Sans finally spoke up, "You talk about me like I'm not here and like I can't take care of myself." Sans said, standing up on the bench, making himself barely taller than Undyne, and just as tall as Papyrus. He looked directly at Undyne, "You know I can handle myself."

"I know you can," Undyne confirmed, "But I'm not taking any risks." She said, then she looked at Papyrus, "I want you to take him home." She pinched the bridge of her nose, "Are you… _that_ worried about the human?" she asked, "You know where I stand…"

"Yeah, you're standing right there." Sans pointed at her feet.

Undyne glared at him, "Humans are all the same to me. If you say this human is harmless-"

"Toriel thought they were worth protecting." Sans cut her off. "I trust her judgement."

Undyne stared at Sans for a while. Besides his jokes, he was hard to disagree with most of the time. If something were to happen, Sans was normally right. "Uh…" she sighed, "Fine… If you trust them, then I'll have to give them a chance… Asgore would agree with you anyways…" she took a deep breath, "Go home. I'll find the human and escort them back to you two." She sighed.

Sans and Papyrus looked at each other, then back at Undyne.

"Go." She pointed homeward for the skeletons.

Papyrus hugged Undyne, "Thank you!" he grinned.

Undyne grunted in displeasure, "Don't push it."

Papyrus smiled and scooped Sans up, running back to Snowdin. "Paps, ribs! Ribs!" Sans gasped.

Papyrus stopped in his tracks and carefully set Sans down, "I'm sorry, are they okay?"

Sans opened his hoodie and lifted his skeleton-print t-shirt, showing Papyrus the cracks in his left ribs, "Yeah, they're alright." He ran his thumb against them, the slight scraping bumping the cracks.

Papyrus looked at them for a while, "And… This happened before…?"

"Yeah." Sans nodded and put his shirt back down, readjusting his hoodie. He looked up at Papyrus and smiled, winking, "They're good." He said, "I'm still _cracking_ jokes, right?"

Papyrus rolled his eyes, "I suppose." He said, then he looked down at Sans, seeing him rub his eyes and yawn. "How much sleep did you get last night?" he asked.

"Not much…" Sans forced out at the end of his yawn.

Papyrus sighed, "Get home, I'll go get a burger from Grillby's okay?"

"Sounds good." Sans started walking back to their house, "Don't forget-"

"Extra ketchup, I know." Papyrus smiled, he watched Sans take one more step before vanishing.

Sans took a few steps in front of the house and finally looked down, seeing red footprints. He rose his eyebrow and looked followed the trail, being led behind the garage. He blinked, finally finding the owner of the bloody footprints. He approached the human that he had met about twenty-four hours prior, "Hey, kiddo…" he knelt in front of them, "You're not looking too good."

Hazel stared at him with half-lidded eyes, their shaky, ragged breaths came out as misty puffs as their body shook from the cold and pain.

"I take it you didn't find what you were looking for?" he asked, helping Hazel to their feet.

Hazel scoffed, "Just Mettaton…" they forced out.

"I figured as much." Sans supported them and brought them inside. He carefully sat the human on the couch and took a moment to study their injuries. Their stomach had been slashed at and their leg had a large gash running down the calf. He thought for a while, "I might have stuff to take care of you… I can't promise anything." He straightened up, "Since we're just skeletons, we don't have skin that'd break…" he thought for a moment, "Would a needle and thread work?"

Hazel nodded weakly, taking in a deep, raspy breath.

"Alrighty then…" Sans nodded, "I'll go look for that, I'll call Papyrus too." He said and dug out his cell phone. After dialing Papyrus, the phone kept ringing. Papyrus' voicemail then greeted Sans. Sans rolled his eyes and hung up, slipping the phone back into his pocket. He dug out a needle and thread from a drawer in the kitchen and grabbed a couple of small hand towels. He went back to the living room, "Hey, how'd you get away from Mettaton?" he asked, then paused, seeing that Hazel had fallen asleep. He sighed and wiped away the extra blood on their stomach. Fortunately, the cut only broke the skin and didn't damage anything else. Sans took a deep breath, then noticed that the skin around the human's sides were badly bruised. He hummed in thought and began stitching the cut closed on their stomach. Hazel grunted in pain as a response. Sans pulled away, then continued, "I know it hurts, kid…" he sighed, "But everything's gonna be alright…" he promised, "I'm know you're just going through a rough patch… Paps and I have too…" he said, "Things will work out…" he said. He finally tied the thread at the end and cut it, cleaning up the human's left leg afterwards.

Papyrus came in through the door with an armful of food, "Sorry I missed your call, Undyne was-" he looked down at the human and gasped loudly, almost dropping everything, " _That_ was from Mettaton?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Sans nodded and began stitching the gash on Hazel's leg, "Wait- how'd you know?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the task at hand.

"Undyne called me and told me that she found blood and some ripped fabric." He explained, "I was on the phone with her when you called." He knelt by Sans, watching him sew the gash shut, "That's… is that how humans take care of themselves?"

"Well, they normally have doctors do this. But since there aren't any hospitals down here, we'd have to take care of them." He explained, "I was almost worried that we wouldn't have anything to take care of them with…"

Papyrus was silent for a while, then he sat down, "Did they find whoever it was they were looking for? Or anything on 'Gaster'?"

"They just said that they found Mettaton. That was pretty obvious." He said, "I can't help but to think that we… _know_ someone named Gaster though…"

Papyrus looked at Sans, who was not only focused on the stitching, but seemed to be deep in thought. "I don't think I know anyone by that name…"

Sans shook his head, "It's bugging me… I _know_ that name, but I don't know how…"

Papyrus was silent for a while, he had a feeling he knew the name too, but he wasn't entirely sure. He then remembered what Undyne said, "But… whoever he is, he's dead." he said, then he stood up, "Whenever you're done, come get some food, alright?" he turned and paced toward the kitchen, shuddering at the sight of the torn skin along Hazel's leg. He set the bag on the counter and fished out a Styrofoam box containing a cheeseburger that was swimming in ketchup and a pile of fries on the side. He slid everything onto a plate that he retrieved from the cupboard and set the plate into the microwave. He then filled a small pot halfway with water and set it on the stove, preparing yet another serving of spaghetti for himself.

Shortly after, Sans walked in and began washing his hands, taking a bottle of bleach and scrubbing the blood from his hands.

"Will they be okay?" Papyrus asked.

"Think so." Sans said.

"'Think so'? What does _that_ mean?" Papyrus looked back at him.

"I don't know how humans heal." Sans shrugged, turning off the water after rinsing and drying his hands on his shirt, "I'll have to talk to Alphys to find out." He opened the microwave, finding his plate of food and sitting down. "Maybe she'd know."

"Shall I call Undyne and let her know that we found them?" he asked.

"Maybe." Sans said, biting into the burger. "Her knowing they're here would make me a little uncomfortable. Plus, I think a human-loathing fish-lady would be the _last_ thing Hazel would want to deal with."

Papyrus nodded, "Right…" he dropped the pasta into the pot.

"Poor kid…" Sans sympathized, "They've given up… Their last hope was this 'Gaster' person and he's dead."

Papyrus turned around, "We'll take care of them!" he said enthusiastically, "We'll give them back the hope they need!" he smiled, "We won't let them give up." He spoke with confidence, "Right?" he asked, having his brother smile and nod with confirmation.


	6. Chapter 6

Sans laid in bed, growling and clutching his pillow. He began panting and writhing. "Papyrus!" he screamed and sat up, his eye glowing brightly. He looked around frantically, only finding that he was in his room, exactly where he should be. He took a moment to catch his breath and to calm down, his eye fading back to normal. He glanced over to see the time and found that it was 1 AM, two hours after he had gone to bed. In frustration, he grabbed he pillow and prepared to throw it, pulling his arm back for full power.

"Mom!" a scream cut the silence.

He froze, holding his arm in place. He listened carefully and started to hear crying from downstairs. He took a deep breath and lowered the potential pillow projectile. He set it back down where it belonged and rolled back his shoulders, calming himself and allowing his eye to fade back to normal. He stood up, shaking his head and exiting his room. Over the railing of the upstairs balcony, he saw Hazel curled up on the couch under the blanket. Their body shaking with sobs, whimpering 'Mom' or 'Dad' here and there, along with an occasional 'I'm sorry'. Sans walked down the stairs and stopped next to the couch, "Hazel?" he asked, slightly groggily- he'd normally gone to bed after having a nightmare.

Hazel only pulled the blanket tighter over them, crying slightly harder, though they made an effort to hide their grief, they did a poor job in doing so.

Sans sighed, "You had a nightmare, too?" he asked, not exactly expecting an answer. He looked down. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours…" he said, "The last human that had fallen down here, they were great, but after _they_ showed up, I started having these nightmares… they killed _everyone_ … over, and over, and over…" he sighed, hearing Hazel's sobs silencing themselves in order to listen. "I go to stop them before they reach the King, then I'd meet my death… but I've never met someone so determined… this kid had my brother beat… and…" he swallowed hard, "I'd kill them, repeatedly, but they'd come back for more. It was like… they _enjoyed_ what they were doing to me… some dreams, they'd spare some of the monsters down here but kill others… some dreams, they'd only kill Papyrus…" he held his head, "It's had me paranoid. I _still_ have these nightmares… I've been losing sleep over it." He took a deep breath, "I… can't keep watching people die like this. By that kid. It's like… it's like somethings telling me that… the Underground was _lucky_ to have Frisk fall down here and not…" he shook his head. "I've just… always been worried about what _could_ have happened." He sighed.

Hazel watched him for a while, seeing that his eye had turned blue and was glowing brightly. They forced themselves to sit up, despite their injury and placed their hand on Sans' forearm.

Sans' eye went back to normal before he closed his eye and took a deep breath. He put his hand on top of Hazel's, "Thanks, kid…" he said, "Just… don't tell Paps. I don't want him to worry."

Hazel smiled and nodded, taking off their hair band, "This was my mom's…" they started, "If she were… if she were still alive… I wouldn't be wearing it. I got it for her for Christmas last week… since she kept complaining that her hair kept getting in her face." They said, "I got it with whatever money I had, which was three dollars I found on the street, and wrapped it as best as I could." They took a deep breath, "We didn't have money for a tree, or gift paper… I almost used the money for food, but Mom told me to use the money to buy something _I_ wanted, something that would mean more… 'Don't buy food for the family, that's mine and your Dad's job.' she always told me, but she couldn't work and he was a street musician… So…" they took a deep breath, "I went to the nearest pharmacy and bought her this hairband to keep her hair out of her face while she worked, and I bought my dad a pen." They smiled, "And it meant everything to me to see that they were happy." They smiled, then their smiled turned into a twisted frown, their eyes watered and their breaths shook, "But…" they began crying, "They had to take that away from me…" they sniffled, "They were all I had…" they took a deep breath, "After they shot my mom, she told me to go to the Underground where the monsters lived and to find Gaster… that he should be able to help me…" they wiped their eyes, then they put their hairband back on. "I was hoping Alphys would be able to help… but her lab was locked..."

Sans was silent for a while, then managed a smile, "Well, we definitely have something in common, kid…"

"And what's that?" they asked.

"We both are pretty messed up." He said, "Papyrus and I have your back, kiddo." He winked at him, "But uh…" he sighed, "About Alphys and Gaster… Alphys doesn't live in Hotand anymore… so… naturally, her lab would be locked… since the incident with Mettaton, she's stayed away from there at all costs. I'd invite her here, but she can't handle to cold." He shrugged, "And for Gaster… He's dead… he's been dead for years…"

Hazel's eyes widened, "Dead? How? What happened?" they gasped.

"I don't know. Undyne does though…" Sans shrugged again, "I don't even know who Gaster even is." Sans said.

Hazel grabbed their head, "He was… He…" they sobbed again.

"Listen, kid." Sans readjusted himself to where he sat on his knees and faced Hazel, but still sat on the floor in front of the couch, his arm rested along Hazel's uninjured leg, "Papyrus and I decided that we're gonna take care of you… We don't wanna hear any more of this talk that you have nothing to keep you here. Sound good?" he said, "You have us now." He smiled, "We'll make you an official bonehead."

Hazel chuckled and wiped their eyes, "Y-you mean it?"

"With every bone in my body." Sans winked.

Hazel smiled, "Thank you." They took a brief moment to notice a small crack that formed in Sans' closed left eye socket. It was barely noticeable, but they were able to see it reach down toward Sans' teeth. Their expression didn't falter to show they were distracted, instead they looked away before Sans could notice them staring. "I got a riddle for you. You're good with wordplay, right?"

Sans nodded and sat back, "I'd say so. Though riddles are more Papyrus' thing." He smiled, "Shoot. What is it?" he asked.

"Okay." Hazel started, "You are trapped in a room. There are no doors, no windows- only a table and a mirror." They started, "How do you get out?" they asked.

Sans though for a while, "Huh…" he looked back at them, "Climb through the vent?"

"Nope." Hazel smiled, "The answer is all in wordplay."

Sans sneered, "Well, of course that's assuming you can't teleport like I can."

Hazel chuckled, "No, no teleporting."

Sans smiled, "How did you get in there?" he asked.

"Doesn't matter." Hazel laid back down carefully, "You have to figure it out and get out."

Sans nodded, "That's a good one." He smiled, "Where'd you hear it?"

"A friend of mine a long time ago…" Hazel said, "I can't remember who, though…"

"Man, because I think I've heard this one before…" he said, "And I know the answer."

Hazel smiled before closing their eyes, "Let me know when you figure it out…"

Sans turned to look at them, amazed with how quickly they had fallen asleep. He took a closer look at them, seeing their ear poking through their hair. He noticed that it was pointed and was more triangular than Frisk's ears were. He shrugged, only meeting the one other human in his lifetime. He shrugged and leaned his head back against the couch, quickly falling asleep while thinking of the riddle.

Six hours later, Papyrus emerged from his room and descended the stairs, not expecting to see Sans sleeping against the couch beside Hazel, who had given him the pillow they were given. Hazel was sitting up and holding their mother's hair band. "Good morning, human!" Papyrus announced, "Good to see you awake." He smiled, then flinched after seeing Sans stirring in his sleep, "Eh- how long has he been down here?" he asked in a much quieter tone.

Hazel looked down at Sans, "I don't know… I had a nightmare and he came down here and talk to me. I don't know what time that was at, but he's been here since. I fell asleep before he did."

Papyrus nodded, "Well, I'm going to prepare some breakfast, feel free to join me in the kitchen." He smiled and started for the kitchen.

Hazel closed their eyes, "Papyrus, wait!"

Papyrus stopped in his tracks and turned around, "Yes?"

"I… I just wanna thank you and Sans for helping me out…" they said, "And for… taking me in… Sans told me about Gaster, and told me that you guys were willing to take care of me and make me part of your family and…" they looked up at Papyrus and smiled, "Thank you."

Sans opened his eyes and saw Papyrus, "Mornin', bro."

"Good morning, Sans." Papyrus smiled, "I'm gonna prepare some breakfast spaghetti, does that sound alright?"

"Yeah, cool." Sans smiled and stretched

"You both are welcome to join me in the kitchen if you so wish." He said and went to the kitchen.

Sans stood up, "You wanna come?" he asked.

Hazel smiled and nodded, getting up from the couch and carefully standing up.

"Okay." Sans chuckled, "Let's go, then."

Hazel took one step and fell over, yelping in pain.

Sans gasped and helped them up, "Are you alright?"

"I forgot about my leg…" they groaned and fell back on the couch, "I'll just… stay here…" they sank.

"Undyne, you have just the worst timing." Papyrus' voice complained from the kitchen.

 _"Yeah, yeah- whatever…"_ Undyne's annoyed tone growled through the receiver, _"Is Sans with you? Is he okay?"_

"Of course he is, why wouldn't he?" Papyrus answered, "What kind of question is that?"

 _"The monsters living at the edge of Waterfall said that they saw a blue and white monster…_ bleeding _. I couldn't get a description, but they said he was bony. Otherwise, the monster was moving too fast for them to get a good look."_ She explained, _"Attacked by Mettaton, no doubt. I couldn't find your human, though… so Sans is okay?"_

"Yes, yes, he's been with me since we went home yesterday from Waterfall. And we found the human, they're with us, too."

There was a moment of silence, _"Has the human done anything suspicious?"_

"Not at all." Papyrus answered simply, "They were injured, but… we're taking care of them."

 _"Right… anyway, this blue and white 'bony' monster thing had me thinking… Maybe it's not your brother."_

"It's not?"

 _"Maybe. That description is very vague, it may describe Sans, but maybe it describes a totally different monster that we don't even know."_ She said, _"" going to investigate this monster a little further."_

"I'll investigate with you." Papyrus said without hesitation.

 _"Are you sure?"_ she asked.

"If there's another monster out there matching my brother in description, I want to know for sure." He said, voice full of confidence, "I just want to make sure it isn't him that the humans are looking for."

 _"I understand… but if_ anything _happens to you, I'm not going to be held responsible, you hear?"_

"Yes, Undyne."

 _"So go let your brother know, okay? I don't wanna get my ass kicked because you got hurt."_

"Okay. Just let me finish making breakfast and I'll head over." He nodded, "See you soon." He hung up and took a deep breath, then he began mixing the sauce rapidly. "Sans, can you come in here please?" he called, "I need to talk to you about something."

Sans was then standing next to him, "What's up? Everything alright?"

"Undyne called." Papyrus reported, "Asking me if you were here and okay."

"Well, yeah, of course I'm here." Sans said, leaning against the counter with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Well, the people living at the edge of Waterfall said that they saw a blue and white monster running out of Hotland. We can only assume that the monster was attacked by Mettaton. But… they were moving so fast that nobody got a good enough look other than the fact that they'd describe them as blue, white, and bony." Papyrus said, "Which, of course, you match that description."

"That wasn't me though, I've been here the whole time." Sans said, legitimately confused.

"I know." Papyrus nodded, "Which only means there's another monster out there somewhere that the humans must be after. Not you." He mixed the pasta together with the sauce, "Which is why I'm going to Waterfall to investigate." He said, "I _have_ to know it's not you." He began serving plates of spaghetti, "Undyne just wanted me to tell you that if _anything_ happens to me, it's not her fault."

"What?" Sans gasped, "Paps," he stammered.

"I'm doing this to make sure you're safe." Papyrus interrupted him, "If anything happens to me, she is not to blame. I'm going at my own risk." He said, "But…" he looked down at Sans, "I'll be fine, okay?" he smiled and handed him a plate. He took the other two plates and walked out to the living room and met with Hazel, "Here you are, Human." Papyrus smiled.

"Thanks." Hazel smiled and took the plate sheepishly. "Y-you can call me Hazel, though…" they furrowed their brows, "I'd rather not be called just 'human' anyways…"

"Oh, have I offended you?" Papyrus gasped.

Hazel shook their head, "Just… ashamed to be called a human at this point…"


	7. Chapter 7

Papyrus trudged through the knee-deep waters alongside Undyne. After asking around for more descriptions of the monster, and receiving no further information, they decided that their best bet was to confront the humans themselves. Though they _had_ found traces of the humans, they had not found the humans themselves.

"We're so close." Undyne muttered.

"You've said that at least a dozen times already." Papyrus complained, "We've rummaged through Waterfall at least three times already. It's been hours…"

Undyne stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at Papyrus, giving him a glare that made him flinch, "We are _this_ close to finding them. I can almost _smell_ them." She said, "Are you thinking of calling it quits?" she asked.

"No, I am not." Papyrus straightened up, "Just asking for a break. You, of _all_ people know I wouldn't call it 'quits' so soon." He said and sat down on a bench. "Let's go over everything again:" he started, "We found tracks near the vanishing lanterns… right?"

"Right."

"How many different tracks did we see?" he asked.

"Well, we found small footprints, there didn't seem to be a pattern. Another set were very large and almost matched your size, they had some sort of zig-zag pattern on them. There was another trail that seemed to drag. Another set with running shoes, from the looks of it. And the last set didn't even seem to be wearing shoes at all."

"So that makes five…" Papyrus had counted on his fingers. "There are five other humans out here, _not_ counting the one staying with me and Sans." He said. "One we can assume is injured." He said.

Undyne nodded, "Okay."

"We also saw nice cream wrappers." He said, "And…" he shuddered, "The vendor's clothes…" he swallowed. He shook his head, "But we found the nice cream wrappers by the River person's dock." He said. "And that's all we've got?"

"Yep."

Papyrus thought for a while, "I got it!" he stood up, "Let's get the Greater Dog here, he can sniff the wrappers and use the scent to track the humans!"

Undyne rolled her eyes, "Why didn't I think of that?" She complained, "Alright. Let's get to my place and we'll call him. We'll have him come by there and we'll take him to the wrappers."

Papyrus nodded and followed Undyne home. As they neared her cavern, Undyne sniffed the air and grew tense, "Wait…" she formed a light spear in her hand and sniffed around, "Oh hell no…" she growled and trotted the rest of the way to her house.

Papyrus ran after her, seeing that a human sat on her doorstep, seeming to be waiting for her. He slowed down and saw that the human's hands were tied behind his back. His expression was terrified. Undyne prepared to swing at the human. Papyrus ran in front of Undyne and blocked her attack with a large bone, "Wait!" he barked. "We need him _alive_ , remember?" he asked.

Undyne growled, "Y-you're right…" she stepped back and made her spear vanish.

Papyrus lowered the bone he had in hand and turned around to the human, seeing that he had fainted out of fear. He took a closer look at him, it was also very possible that he had passed out from is injuries. His head trickled with blood, somewhere from under his hair. His eye must have been swollen shut, dried blood crusted under his nose and from the corner of his mouth, his arms had been cut up and his feet were badly scraped up. Papyrus sighed, "He's badly hurt…" he said, "He's going to need help if we're going to get any sort of information out of him."

Undyne rolled her eyes, "Right, and you expect for me to take him in and dress his wounds?"

"Well, you don't expect to take him home to my house, do you? I live too far and I don't think he can wait." Papyrus huffed.

Undyne sighed, "Fine." She said, "You carry him." She commanded.

Papyrus picked him up and step back so Undyne could unlock her front door. She stepped in, allowed Papyrus inside, and left to dig for medical supplies out of her bathroom. Papyrus sat the man down, untied his wrists and laid him back, propping a pillow under his head to make him more comfortable. He took a deep breath, being tempted to call Sans, considering he was better with human care than he was already. But he shook the thought and found it was too dangerous for him to leave the house. Undyne dropped the supplies next to Papyrus, "I'm making tea, want some?"

"Sure." Papyrus nodded.

"By the way…" she stopped, "Only use that needle and thread for big cuts. The ones on his feet don't need them. And only the big ones on his arms: this one…" she pointed to the two large gashed running across the man's arms, "And this one, only need to be sewn. Clean the rest of them and bandage them and he'll be fine. It's no different from taking care of me. Only difference is _he's_ unconscious." She said before walking away.

Papyrus thought for a while, nodding, "Alright then…" he began cleaning the human's injuries and was able to get a better look at everything. They only looked worse than they really were. He stitched up the two cuts on the man's arms, and wrapped everything else, including his feet.

Undyne had watched the entire time, only watching how much Papyrus was proving that he shouldn't be in the Royal Guard. Something like this was going to get him in trouble, or even killed. But he was so passionate, she had to start going to Papyrus if she ever needed help. At least he could _see_ what he was doing. Alphys on the other hand, when she was attacked by Mettaton, she lost her vision in her right eye, opposite of Undyne's. She was still trying to get used to having one good eye.

"What?" Papyrus' voice broke her thoughts.

"Nothing." Undyne shook her head and left him pass, seeing that his hands were red with the man's blood. He went and washed his hands in the sink, "Do you have bleach?" he asked.

"Under the sink." She answered, "Your tea is on the table."

"Thanks…" Papyrus bleached his hands and dried them very thoroughly before taking the cup of tea from the table. He stood beside Undyne, who uncomfortably stared at the unconscious human that laid on her living room floor.

"You did good." She complimented.

Papyrus would have blushed if he had skin, but instead he gave a sheepish response, "Did I? Th-thanks…"

She bumped his arm, "Maybe I'll have _you_ take care of my injuries next time." She smiled.

Papyrus smiled, then it faded, "But did I do the right thing?" he asked.

"We don't know yet." Undyne said, "We could've just saved the nutcase that's been behind killing the monsters. Or-"

"This man was their captive." He said, "Why else would he be sitting on your doorstep already tied up?" he asked.

Undyne shrugged. "I'm sure I don't know, Paps, but there is also the possibility that this man is just as harmless as you say the kid is." She said, "Who knows."

Papyrus smiled and looked at Undyne, "Are you implying that not _all_ humans are bad?

"I'm not saying that he _is_ a good human, but…" she sighed, "I'll let you ask the questions, okay? I'm going to see Alphys." She said, "Enjoy your tea." She walked away, "Keep an eye on that human." Her voice faded as she walked upstairs.

"Yes, ma'am." He nodded and sat beside the human, facing away from him. He sipped some of the tea and cringed, finding that it was too bitter for his taste. Otherwise, he didn't think it was that bad.

Undyne reached her room and found Alphys lying in bed, blanket tangled around her waist and around her legs as she hugged a pillow, "How are you doing, baby?" she asked, having brought up an extra cup of tea for Alphys.

"I miss Hotland…" Alphys whined in a scratchy, wheezing voice.

"I know… I know…" she said, "But… hey, there's a monster out there that challenged Mettaton recently and actually did some sort of damage to him. Granted the monster got hurt too, but…"

"Who was it?" Alphys turned and looked at Undyne with her one good eye, the other covered by an eye patch.

"We don't know." Undyne shook her head, "But I'm pretty sure it's the one that the humans are here for." She handed Alphys the tea. "We're trying to find that monster. But nobody knows anything about them except for the humans. We have one captured downstairs." She said, "He's unconscious and badly injured, but Papyrus is taking care of him."

A new look of fear washed over Alphys' face, "What if the human kills us?" she gasped, "What if-"

"Papyrus thinks he was their captive." Undyne cut her off. "He was already tied up and beaten when we found him here on the doorstep."

Alphys shuddered and nodded. "Okay…" she took a deep breath. "When do we think he'd wake up?" she asked.

"Who knows?" Undyne shrugged, "Drink your tea, you'll feel better."

Papyrus had finished his tea and sat it down, considering asking Undyne for more for whenever the human woke up.

"Y-you've grown so much…" the man muttered weakly.

Papyrus jolted and turned his head to look at the human, "Excuse me?"

The man's eye barely opened as the man smiled, "You've gotten so big…" he smiled wider.

Papyrus scooted around so he could face the human without turning, "I'm sorry, but you must be mistaking me for someone else."

The man chuckled weakly, "You're right. I could be mistaking you for _any other_ skeleton that I know…" he said with sarcasm laced in his tone.

Papyrus rolled his eyes, "I don't believe we've met, is what I meant to say." He said. He found this man strange already. He couldn't recall ever meeting a human that would have known him as a child.

"Of course… we didn't see each other much… you always saw my wife…" his eye closed again sleepily. "And my son." Then his smile faded, "You and Sans were good friends with my son as kids…" he continued to ramble. "My wife and your father were such close friends…"

Papyrus shook his head, "What?" he asked, "Y-you actually know who my brother is?" he shook his head, "Wait- why are you guys here for Sans?" he asked, his tone was demanding.

The man frowned, "They're not here for Sans… I promise that…"

"Ho-hold that thought." Papyrus jumped up, "Undyne! You have to hear this!" he called.

Thumping was now heard as though Papyrus' panicked voice was the summoning call for a warrior fish woman. Undyne skipped a few steps and landed beside him, "What? What's wrong?"

Papyrus dragged her over and sat her next to the man, "Tell her what you told me." He said, "Are you here for Sans?"

"No… _they're_ here for someone else…" he said, "A monster that escaped the surface…"

Undyne listened carefully, then paused, "Wait a minute… you look familiar… why do you look familiar?" she asked.

The man looked up at Undyne and smiled, "I was the man to marry Evangeline…" he said.

Undyne gasped and stepped back, "Oh my god…" she breathed. Then she shook her head, "Y-you're Evangeline's husband?" she panted, "Kurt?"

The man smiled, then looked at Papyrus, "See? _She_ remembers me."

Undyne lifted Kurt and hugged him, almost crying, "With that machine… and… and…" she sniffled, "I thought all of you were dead…" she held him close. Then she set him back down, "So where- where's Evangeline? And your child? S-surely _they_ survived too, right?"

Papyrus took a step back, this whole scenario went in a totally different direction than he imagined. Undyne _knew_ this human. And he even had a name. A wife that she knew. And they had a child? Things were getting strange, but he couldn't help but to smile at the reunion. But something was wrong.

Kurt frowned, now appearing hurt, "Evangeline… she's gone…" he trembled… "She tried rebuilding that machine and they raided our home." He said, "They had busted the door down, they killed my wife and threatened my child." He shook his head, "I came home and the house was destroyed, my wife was…" he shook his head, "They…"

Papyrus grew skeptical, he felt like he heard this story before.

"Evangeline was gone… my child had already run off. The others captured me and kept me as their hostage. They saw my kid and said they'd kill me if he didn't cooperate." He shook his head and took a deep breath, "I told him to run away, and to keep running." He explained. "Boy, did that kid run." He smiled, "One of the fastest things I've ever seen." He smiled. Then his smile faded again, "They will not leave the underground until they've found him." He shook his head, "I don't know what he knows… but it's serious."

"Wait." Undyne shook her head, "Your son… is he the blue and white monster?"

Kurt nodded, "The others are after my son." His eyes watered, "If you can help me find him, he's a tall, cat-like creature, white front, with a blue back. He's got wide, black and fiery red eyes, and a long, thin tail." He sighed, "And he goes by the name Hazel…"


	8. Chapter 8

Papyrus stood outside, tapping his foot anxiously as he waited for Sans to answer his phone. He took a deep breath and listen to the phone ring for the seventh time.

 _"Yo."_

"Sans, thank god…" Papyrus breathed, "Listen, I've got news." He said, "We found a human, and we found out who the monster is that the humans are here for and it's _not_ you." He explained, "I need you to come down to Undyne's house immediately. It's important."

 _"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Paps, calm down."_ Sans' voice sighed, _"Are you okay?"_

"I just need you to come here and bring Hazel. You _have_ to bring Hazel."

 _"What's the kid have to do with this?"_

"Please, Sans, just do it. I'm not going to ask again." Papyrus' tone hardened.

 _"Okay, okay. Calm down. Don't snap at me, geez."_ Sans seemed to flinch, _"I'll be there in a second."_ He assured him before hanging up. He looked down at Hazel, who looked up at him curiously.

"That was Papyrus." He said, "He wants me to take you to Undyne's." he said, "Come on."

Hazel stood up with great difficulty, "Is everything okay?"

Sans took a deep breath, "I don't know." He watched the child struggle to stand, "Can you walk?" he asked.

Hazel shrugged and took two steps forward, then stumbled.

Sans caught the limping human, "I'll support you on the way there." He said, "Let me get you a jacket, you're gonna be cold." he sat Hazel back down and quickly went to retrieve a jacket from his room. He then ran back downstairs and threw it over Hazel's shoulders, "Come on, let's go."

Hazel stood up, quickly readjusted the jacket and followed Sans outside. Sans reached over and grabbed Hazel's wrist, only taking a few more steps before they stood in front of Undyne's home. Hazel stumbled, causing Sans to stop, "You okay?"

"Still not used to the teleporting…"

Sans nodded, "We're almost there."

"Sans!" Papyrus called out and ran to meet with the two, "Hurry." He said, picking up Hazel with ease.

"What's going on?"

"The human we found…" Papyrus started, "He's been saying some interesting things…" he noted.

"Like what?" Sans asked, opening the door for Papyrus.

Papyrus set Hazel down, facing Kurt. There was a loud gasp, "Dad!"

Kurt was sitting up and tearfully accepted the hug from his missing son.

Undyne shook her head and stepped back, "My god, that's Evaneline's kid…" she breathed, barely recognizing him.

Sans shook his head, "Wait, you _know_ them?"

" _Know_ them?" Undyne pointed at Hazel, "His mother was a friend of mine."

Hazel sobbed into his father's shoulder, "I was so scared… I thought you were dead…" they cried, "I… I thought they killed you."

"I'm okay, I'm okay…" Kurt reassured him. He looked up at Sans, "Thank you for helping him."

Sans nodded, "Of course…"

Kurt smiled at Sans, "You've grown too." He smiled.

Sans gave him a strange look, then looked up at Papyrus "Do we know this guy?"

Papyrus shrugged, "Apparently." He said.

"Your parents were close friends to me and my wife." Kurt answered Sans, then he looked down at Hazel, "You kids were best friends. You used to play a lot."

Hazel looked at the skeletons strangely, "We did?" he looked at Kurt.

"Come on, I'd hate to break up the reunion, but it's bedtime." Undyne commanded, "Sans, Papyrus, you two can spend the night here." She looked down at Hazel, "You can stay with them." Then she pointed at Kurt, "You stay here, I still need to talk to you."

Hazel sunk and eyed Undyne nervously.

"Go with Sans and Papyrus." Kurt reassured him, "I'll be fine."

Hazel nodded and followed the skeletons, who followed Undyne to a guest bedroom upstairs. While the skeletons got comfortable, Hazel only sat by the door.

"Good night, boys." She said and walked off, heading back downstairs to interrogate Kurt further. He looked down and avoided eye contact and conversation while the brother got ready for bed. Papyrus took off his armor and boots, setting everything on the dresser at the side of the room. Sans only took off his hoodie, leaving only a black t-shirt with a white skeleton print.

"Sans, did you bring my book?" Papyrus asked as Sans tucked him in.

"Sorry, bro, I didn't think we'd spend the night…" he sat down at the foot of Papyrus' bed, "Plus, I'm sure Hazel doesn't want to listen to a bedtime story."

"I don't mind." Hazel said.

Sans turned around and looked at him, "Kid, you're not sleeping on the floor, okay?" he walked over and picked up Hazel, carefully putting him in the other bed, "Take this bed."

"What about you?" he asked nervously.

"I can sleep just about anywhere." Sans said and sat back down on Papyrus' bed.

Papyrus burrowed under the blanket comfortably, "He said he didn't mind the story." He smiled a childish grin.

"I'll have to make something up." Sans looked turned back to Papyrus.

"That's okay. I trust you'll think of something good." Papyrus encouraged.

Sans sighed exhaustedly, "Okay. Just give me a second to think of something…" he looked down, his eyes scanning the floor in thought. He nodded in confirmation, "Got it." He took a deep breath, "There was a kingdom, and in that kingdom lived two bunnies…" Sans started.

Papyrus shuffled under the blanket and listened carefully.

"They weren't princes, or anyone too special." He continued, "Just brothers. They appeared out of nowhere." He said, "They didn't know where they came from, and they only had each other. But that's all they needed. The older brother, did everything he could to protect his younger brother."

"This is gonna be good." Papyrus smiled.

Hazel watched the expression in Sans' eyes, seeing that this wasn't just some story he made up. He kicked off his shoes and paid close attention.

"One day, a rival kingdom of foxes came and attacked the kingdom the bunnies lived in."

"Oh no!"

"The brothers got separated." Sans said, "The older brother got scared when he couldn't find his little brother."

"Then the younger brother came in and saved him!" Papyrus declared.

"No…" Sans shook his head, "The older brother knew that his little brother was lost and probably just as scared as he was. He fought left and right to find his little brother. And there he was, surrounded by a group of the fox knights, getting ready to _hurt_ the little brother."

Papyrus gasped loudly.

Hazel's gaze intensified.

"The foxes prepared an attack…" Sans straightened up and swung his left arm over his right shoulder, pretending to be holding a sword, "And aimed at the little brother…"

Papyrus covered his mouth, "No! Sans, I don't like this one…" he whimpered.

"It's got a good ending, trust me." Sans lowered his arm.

"But the bunny dies!"

"Nobody dies. Just listen." Sans shook his head.

Papyrus whined and let Sans continue.

Sans sighed and got back into position, "The little bunny flinched, prepared to meet his end. The foxes swung…"

Papyrus' eyes welled up.

"…but nothing happened." Sans said, having swung his arm halfway, then lowered his arm. "The little bunny opened his eyes and looked up, seeing that his older brother had taken the hit for him. 'Run.' The older brother said, 'Or at least close your eyes'." Sans said, "Then a massive wave of energy exploded from the older brother and in the excitement, the little brother was knocked unconscious. The foxes didn't understand the attack, so they ran away, leaving the kingdom alone…"

Papyrus paused, "Is that it?" he glanced over at Hazel, seeing that he was fighting sleep.

Sans took a deep breath, "The older brother, despite his injury, took the little brother home. He took care of him, made sure he wasn't hurt, and waited for him to wake up…" he explained, "When the little bunny woke up, he was shocked to see his brother's wound. 'What happened?' he asked. But the older bunny only smiled, 'You scared them off.' He said, 'You scared away the foxes, bro… you're a hero.'"

Papyrus gasped, "Wait, but that's not what happened! The older brother scared them away."

"I know." Sans nodded, "But the older brother didn't want the attention. He wanted his little brother to be happy. So he-"

"He lied to him?" Papyrus asked.

Sans sighed, "Listen, Paps, you keep interrupting the story." He managed a smile.

"Okay." Papyrus crossed his arms. "Continue."

Sans shook his head. "After telling his little brother that he was a hero. He told the little brother to rest, and that he had a big day ahead of him the day after. After the little brother went back to sleep, the older brother took care of his injury-"

"Why didn't he take care of it before?" Hazel asked.

The two skeletons looked at him in surprise, having not heard a peep from him since the story started. "He was tired." Sans answered. "It took a lot of energy out of him just to get the little brother home." His tone said he knew from personal experience. "Anyway… after he took care of his injury, he went out to his village and explained to everyone that he didn't want the credit for scaring off the foxes, and to give it to his brother instead. When asked why, he explained that he was injured and shouldn't fight. The captain of the Royal Guard approached him and even offered him a position."

"Wowie!" Papyrus exclaimed, "That's so cool!"

"But the older brother didn't want it, and he told her the same thing he told everyone else. He then told her to train the little brother instead. So… if there _ever was_ a next time… the little brother would be able to fight back and defend himself."

Hazel nodded, understanding how everything played out. Papyrus didn't seem to put everything together, but he seemed to love the story anyway.

"'I won't always be there to protect him.'" Sans quoted, "'If something happens to him, I don't want him going out without a fight.' The older bunny told her, 'Promise me you'll teach him to fight and make him happy?' the bunny asked. The captain thought about this for a long time. Then she nodded. 'I'll make sure he's one of the toughest bunnies down here.'"

"Yay!" Papyrus cheered.

"The older brother lied to him and hid his injury from him as best as he could. Though the injury had been seen once or twice, the little brother still doesn't remember what happened."

"Wow… h-how are they now?" Papyrus asked.

Sans smiled, "They've never been happier. The end…" He said. "Good night, bro…" Sans pat Papyrus' leg and stood up, "I'm gonna go talk to Undyne." He declared.

"Good night, Sans." Papyrus called after him.

"Night, Hazel." Sans turned off the light and left the room.

"Night…" Hazel mumbled, already half-asleep.

Papyrus turned to his side, "Good night, hum- eh- Hazel…"

Hazel managed a smile, "Night, Papyrus."

Papyrus smiled, "Wow… if we really were friends, I wish I'd remember. I bet we got along great!" he giggled. "Hazel?" he lifted his head, then he heard light snores. Smiling, he lowered his head back down, "Good night…"

Sans plodded down the stairs and sighed, rubbing his head. As his hand scraped against his skull, he heard Undyne talking to Kurt. He shrugged and walked in, "Am I interrupting anything?" he asked and sat next to Undyne.

"Not really." Kurt replied.

"There are three more humans. They're after Hazel."

Sans tilted his head, "Hazel? I thought they were after a monster."

Kurt folded his hands and set them in his lap, "Hazel is half-human, half-monster." He said, "His mother was a monster." He started, "Evangeline was a red and white, cat-like monster. I'd show you a picture, but… The others took my wallet." He took a deep breath, "Hazel doesn't use his monster form often anymore. It takes too much energy out of him nowadays… It all started after we escaped… the… the blast that sent us to the surface…" he sighed, "Hazel hadn't really been the same…" He shifted around to make himself more comfortable. "Even before a couple days ago with his mother, he's been reclusive. He never was a people person." He smiled sleepily, "But he's a sweet little kid…" His eyes fought to stay open.

Sans watched him for a while, "Escaped?" he asked, "Wait, what do you mean?"

"How do you think I knew you and your brother? Your parents?" Kurt asked, "My wife, Hazel, and I all lived Underground." He leaned his head back against the wall.

"Then how did you escape?" Sans asked.

Kurt's eyes began to droop, "The machine…" he started, but trailed off.

Undyne shook her head, "Why are they after Hazel?" she commanded, seeing that he was losing consciousness fairly quickly.

"He knows… the machine… the key…" Kurt mumbled before losing consciousness.

**I wasn't too keen on how this chapter went in general. But I didn't know what else to do. I hope this came out okay. Thank you for your support!**


	9. Chapter 9

Hazel laid awake in the bed he was given. Papyrus lightly snored in the separate bed beside him, and it seemed that he was the only other person in the room with him. He found the small line of light that shone under the door. After flipping the blanket off his lap, and swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he carefully stood up, having agitated his leg when he climbed up the stairs before. He wasn't even sure as to what time it was. He took a deep breath and swung his legs over the side of the bed, taking a moment before standing up. He took a step forward and dropped to his knee. He panted and tried pushing the pain aside. Surprisingly, the injury on his stomach wasn't nearly as bad as his leg. He forced himself back up and stepped out the door, being careful to not wake Papyrus.

He stared at the stairs for a few minutes, amazed that he got _up_ them himself without needing help. Granted, he depended on the railing, but even then. He sat down on the top step and slid down each of the steps one-by-one. When he reached the bottom, he found everything was quiet. He glanced up at the clock and realized that it was three in the morning. He looked for his father, finding that he was in deep sleep. He sighed and looked down. Off to his right, he heard movement. In the kitchen beside him, Sans sat at the dining room table with a mug of something steamy. Hazel forced himself to his feet, "Sans?" he called.

Sans jumped and turned to look at Hazel, "Thought I was the only one up." He rubbed his face.

Hazel shrugged and sat at the table beside Sans, "I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep."

Sans took a deep breath, "You scared me, kid. I didn't even hear you coming."

"Sorry…" he sank.

"Don't sweat it." Sans breathed, "Have another nightmare?" he asked.

"No… just… woke up." He sank;

Sans only nodded, seeming to be deep in thought. He held a pencil and impatiently tapped it against the table top. In front of him was a sheet of paper that he was able to borrow from Alphys. There was a drawing on the sheet of paper, it appeared to be a room with two rectangles, one was very narrow and had several diagonals lines running across. Hazel took a moment to figure out what this was. "You had to draw the riddle?" he asked.

Sans rubbed his eye, "It's been driving me nuts."

"Obviously." Hazel chuckled, "You don't need a diagram, you just gotta think about the things you have to work with."

"A mirror and a table…" Sans nodded, "Sounds great, I'll throw the table through the wall and just run through the hole." He said lifelessly. His eyes fought to stay open and he wobbled now and then.

"You're… on the right track…" Hazel shrugged uncomfortably, "You need the table to make a hole. But that's not the answer." He smiled.

Sans' eyes opened, suddenly slightly more awake than he was before, "Wait- serious…?" he looked down at the paper again, blinking unevenly. "Wait…" he tapped the pencil against the table faster.

"What's going on down here?" a hoarse voice asked.

Hazel and Sans both turned around to see a yellow dinosaur-like monster with large framed glasses. "Hey, Alphys." Sans greeted.

"Heya, Sans…" she greeted, then she looked down at Hazel, who stared up at her with big hazel eyes. "Hello… human?" she greeted uncomfortably. She kept her distance from him and proceeded into the kitchen, retrieving a cup of instant noodles.

"Hazel…" he corrected coldly.

"Yeah, the kid's not a hundred percent human." Sans corrected her. "He's half monster."

Alphys whipped around, "That's a boy!?"

Sans was taking a drink of tea or something of the sort, and has sprayed it across the table and the floor. "Alphys!" he coughed, "What the hell?"

"I can't be the only one who thought he was a she!" Alphys gestured to the monster-human hybrid.

Hazel sunk, "Won't be the first time…" he muttered.

Alphys gave Hazel an apologetic look before taking a moment to process the color that Sans sprayed across the room, "Sans, what the hell are you drinking!?" she asked in shock, hoping that he wasn't bleeding.

"Ketchup." Sans answered simply.

Hazel scrunched his eyebrows together and leaned over to check the mug in Sans' hand, "Why?"

"Why does Alphys watch anime?" Sans asked bitterly.

"At least _that_ makes-" Hazel paused, "What the heck is anime?"

Alphys gasped dramatically, "It's a Japanese cartoon with guns and swords, robots, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff!" she exclaimed, "You're a human, how do you _not_ know about anime?" she asked.

Hazel narrowed his gaze, his ears slightly lowering. "I could barely survive on what my dad was making sitting on the streets playing music for tips. My mom couldn't leave the house, much less have a job. A TV was the _least_ of our worries." He said coldly.

Alphys flinched and her eyes welled up with tears, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry…" she sank, "An-anime is great…" she turned around and continued cooking her cup of instant noodles. "Sorry if I… y-you know… offended you…"

Hazel lowered himself to almost lay on the table, "N-no…" he shook his head, "I'm sorry… I… I shouldn't have snapped like that." He glanced over and realized that Sans had fallen asleep. It surprised him considering how lightly he slept. He looked back up Alphys, who was continuing to cook. His ears drooped. "Dad says that I used to be friends with Sans and Papyrus…" he said, "But I can't remember them to save my life…"

Alphys set down her cup of instant noodles and grew silent. "The three of you, plus your parents… you were all in an accident… The accident… killed the boys' mother… and their father… they don't remember anything either and were gone before anyone reached the lab. They woke up and ran off before anyone even _realized_ there was something wrong… You, your mother, and your father were _nowhere_ to be found…" she sighed. "King Asgore was torn… He _and_ Queen Toriel…" she said and sat down across from Hazel, barely picking at her noodles. "You must not remember either…"

Hazel watched her for a while, then he looked down.

"Do you…?" she asked.

Hazel shook his head. "Like I said before: I can't…" he stood up, taking off the hoodie that Sans had given him before and draping it over the skeleton's shoulders. He sat back down, "They're nice though…They…" he looked down, "I dunno… they feel like family…"

Alphys smiled, "I bet they'd be happy to hear that…" she took a bite from her noodles. "After the accident, they've only had each other. They weren't found again until it was too late. Sans was twelve when he asked for Undyne to train Papyrus and he was seven when they went missing." She sighed, "Asgore thought they were dead…" she wiped her eye. "It was Undyne that asked Asgore for permission to train a kid to be in the royal guard." She explained, "I was there… I remember it clearly… Asgore was appalled to hear that the kid that was asking to be trained was a seven-year-old. She then told him that it was the little brother to the skeleton that scared off the humans with his powers."

Hazel nodded, happy that the story that Sans had told was confirmed to be true, just replaced with little, furry animals.

"They basically raised themselves. Or… Sans raised Papyrus… whichever. Sans matured quickly, faster than he should have for one his age."

"How old is he?" Hazel asked.

"He just turned twenty-five last month." She answered, "Papyrus is going to be twenty in a few months." She said, "In March."

Hazel nodded, almost forgetting that it was December and almost New Years. He sighed, remembering that the following day was New Year's Eve. It was almost 2015. He took a deep breath.

"How old are you?" She asked, "And when's your birthday?"

"I'm seventeen." Hazel said, earning a gasp from Alphys. He paused, "What?"

"I thought you were a lot younger than just that. I thought maybe you were fifteen or thirteen."

Hazel nodded, never being told that he looked four years younger than he really was. He shook his head, "And my birthday's in May."

"Oh… so you're a Taurus!" she giggled, "I'm a Sagittarius." She smiled.

Hazel smiled, "Yeah. I'm… probably just as stubborn, if not- _more_ stubborn than the stereotype indicates." He chuckled nervously.

Alphys smiled, "So… wh-what's your story? How'd you come down here? _Why_ did you come down here?"

Hazel looked down, "When my mom died… a few days ago… she told me to come down here. There was an entrance on Mt. Ebott… from what she said…" he sank, "She told me to come look for Gaster. That he'd be able to help me…" then he shrugged, "But… Sans and Papyrus said they'd look after me." He smiled.

Alphys smiled wider, "I heard that Gaster considered his friend to be his family. Your mom was Evangeline, wasn't she?"

Hazel nodded proudly.

"The Royal Inventor." Alphys confirmed. "Evangeline was good at her job." She said, "I wish I would've seen her in action."

Hazel shrugged, "She collected a lot of weird things." He said, "She said it was for a 'secret project' and that she'd tell me when I'm older… but uh…" he sank, "She never did…"

Alphys reached across and took Hazel's hand, "I'm sorry…" she gave it a gentle squeeze, "But we're here for you… okay? Don't give up."

Hazel smiled and returned the gesture, "Thanks… It's nice trust someone outside the family for once…" he smiled. Then he yawned, "I should probably go back to bed…" he sighed, "Figure out what to do about tomorrow." He stood up, taking his hand back.

Alphys gave him a confused look, "What do you mean?" she asked.

Hazel closed his eyes, "Those humans are down here looking for me… aren't they?"

Alphys leaned back slightly.

"Their actions are my responsibility… I've got to figure out a way to get them out of here so they don't hurt anyone else." He took a deep breath, "I can't let them take you guys too."

Sans gasped loudly and sat straight up, "Oh! I remember now!" he jumped up, dropping the hoodie that Hazel had draped over his shoulders, "I have to go home!" he turned and ran for the door.

"Sans, wait! What?" Hazel called after him, making an attempt to run after him, but falling in the process instead.

Alphys ran to the door, "Sans! No! It's too dangerous for you to go out there!" she cried after him, but by the time she was able to step outside, Sans was gone.

Hazel groaned and grabbed his leg, then his stomach. Alphys turned around and looked at the teen in concern. She shook her head, "I'll go grab Undyne." She closed the door and ran upstairs.

Hazel laid on the ground and clutched the wound on his left calf. It didn't take very long for two pairs of footsteps to come rumbling down the stairs, along with Undyne's curses under her breath, "Damn skeleton, he had to fuckin' run off…" she muttered. "Call his dumb-ass." She instructed and quickly scooped Hazel off the ground, "You alright, kid?"

"My leg hurts…" he hissed, trying to peel Undyne's hand away from the injury.

"Sorry." She quickly adjusted herself and carried Hazel upstairs. "Get some rest, kid. You're gonna need it." She set him on the bed, "I'll grab that jacket for you too…" she said and left the room, leaving him in the dark. He sank and laid back down. The silence was deafening. He was barely able to hear Alphys' voice talking to Sans over the phone.

"Where the hell did you go?" she asked, "Those humans are _still_ out there, they could kill you!" she paused for a moment, "So could the queen, but that didn't stop them." She responded. There was a longer pause, as well as a horrified gasp. "I-I'm so sorry…" she sighed, "Just… you're at home?" She asked. "Good, stay there. Okay? Don't go anywhere else, got it? Undyne will come by tomorrow morning to escort you back over here." She instructed, "Tell him what?"

Hazel could feel the tension. He laid down on the bed and remained silent. He body refused the sleep. Eventually, after Undyne and Alphya had gone back to bed, a voice broke the silence.

"Hazel…?"

Hazel didn't even realize that Papyrus was even awake, "Papyrus?" he replied.

There was a long moment of silence. But Papyrus finally spoke again, "What's the surface like?" he asked.

"Bright…" he answered, "In comparison to here…" he added, "The surface looks nice, but… most of the people are rude… mean…" he yawned, "But don't get me wrong…" he said, "Not _all_ people are bad." Hazel said, "Most of them… just… don't understand… and are scared for themselves and the others they care about." He explained, "They only want what they think is best for their families."

"Just like Undyne? She's only mean and rude because she's trying to protect the ones she loves." He asked to clarify.

"Exactly like Undyne… and just like you, and Sans… the humans… just aren't used to monsters…" Hazel finally closed his eyes, "But that doesn't make it okay to go out of their way to hurt someone…" his tone hardened, "Not everything is solved through violence… but sometimes it may be the only way…"

**I'm tired and very tempted to go to bed right now... If something doesn't make sense (besides Sans running off- that was intentional), please let me know. It has also been called to my attention that Hazel was mistaken for a girl. I take that as a compliment, because I intended for him to have that problem a lot. As you could tell, Alphys even confused him for a girl. So DO NOT apologize for confusing Hazel's gender. He's supposed to be hard to tell in the first place. Thank you for your support and stay awesome, folks!**


	10. Chapter 10

Hazel spent the following morning sitting on the roof of Undyne's house, flicking whatever pebbles he could reach and aiming for nothing in particular. He glared at nothing in particular. His eyes seemed hazed, almost soulless. His face was red and his breaths were shaky. Each time he picked up a pebble, he dropped it and had to retrieve it again with a trembling hand. He couldn't shake the image from his head. His father's lifeless body lying on Undyne's couch. The promise of him never coming back.

"Heyo, Sans-y…" a voice grumbled.

"What's up?" Sans replied.

Hazel didn't budge, praying that Sans didn't go up to talk to him.

"Hey- y'know that human you brought with ya's a total jerk." The voice growled, "They came out of Undyne's, beat the crap out of me and then went up on the roof. Edgy little brat."

"Did he now?" Sans asked, not seeming too phased.

"That kid's a he?!" the voice scoffed. Hazel now recognized it as the training dummy that stood in front of Undyne's. "Whatever… Go teach that punk a lesson for me, will ya?"

"Okay, no prob." Sans answered and seemed to walk closer to the building. "Haze?" he called, "C'mon, kid, I know you're up there…"

Hazel ignored him, flicking another pebble. This one just happened to bounce off the top of Sans' head.

Sans shook his head and rubbed it, "Don't make me come up there." He warned jokingly. If he knew Hazel the way he did, then he definitely had a good reason to be hiding out on the roof. This wasn't to be taken as a joke. Sans just couldn't help himself. He sighed and teleported himself onto the roof beside Hazel.

Hazel flinched and buried his face in his arms. He began shaking.

"Hey, kiddo. What's going on?" he asked. "Did Undyne say something?"

Hazel began crying, "My dad…" he forced out, "He…"

Sans froze, "Oh…" he sank and looked down.

"He never woke up this morning…" Hazel sobbed.

Sans sat down beside the hysterical teen. He wanted to try and console him, but wasn't sure as to what to do. He took a deep breath and hesitantly pat Hazel's shoulder. "I'm sorry, kid…" he sighed.

Hazel held his head and growled between cries, "Th-those bastards!" he snarled, his breathing grew aggressive, his skin getting lighter, almost turning white. Sans took a moment to take note of this. His fingertips turned a deep, dark blue and his nails sharpened and grew longer. "Th-they had to k-kill him too…?"

"Haze… easy…" Sans warned, "T-take a deep breath, okay?"

Hazel took a deep breath through his nose, his features returning to normal.

There was a moment of silence between the two. Sans finally reached for the bag and zipped it open, "Brought you a new shirt…" he said and passed an orange sweater to Hazel, "Since the one you're wearing is destroyed."

Hazel sniffled and took the sweater, "Thanks…" he carefully pulled off his shirt, checking the bandages briefly, then threw on the sweater, realizing that it was just a size or two too large. "Was this Papyrus'? he asked.

"Yeah…" Sans dug around in the bag once more, "He outgrew it a while ago. Plus all he wears is that armor we made."

"You guys _made_ that?" Hazel asked, setting his old shirt on the roof beside him.

"Heh, yeah. It was for a costume party. He's so attached to it that it's literally _all_ he wears." He shrugged, "Whatever makes him happy, I guess." He pulled out a folder, "I got somethin' else for you, too…" he handed Hazel the folder. "It's got your mom's name on it, so… I guess it was important to her. Maybe you can make sense of it."

Hazel looked down at the folder, then looked back up at Sans, then he opened the folder and checked the paperwork inside. He studied the pages for a moment, "These… these look like blueprints." Hazel said, "And notes… research… for…" he flipped through the pages, "Hey- this… this is to a machine that would 'bypass the barrier'…" he said, "A portal, basically."

"Really?"

"Yeah… to the surface." Hazel wiped his eyes and leaned over to show Sans, "Look. I guess our parents had some sort of secret project that not even the _king_ knew about."

Sans took a moment to skim through the paperwork. "No kidding- wait!" he gasped, "Hey- I have that machine at the house."

Hazel leaned away from Sans and gave him a strange look, " _You_ have a _portal_ at your house?"

Sans smirked, "Would you be surprised?" he asked, "How do you think I can get places so quickly?"

Hazel narrowed his eyes, "Bullshit."

"Duh…" Sans winked, "The thing doesn't run." he leaned back and laid down, "It's had a curtain over it for _years_. I keep going in to figure out how to get it fixed." He sighed, his smirk fading, "But… nothing. It needs a partner portal…"

Hazel nodded and laid back, wincing at his stomach. "I guess that makes sense."

"Yeah… otherwise the portal wouldn't know where to send someone… it needs coordinates." He sighed, "But man, if we could get that thing running…" Sans smiled sadly, "I'd love to see the stars for real…" he sighed, "I want to show Paps the Sun…"

Hazel hadn't actually thought about it- but the other monsters were trapped. He always forgot. He looked down, "Sans… I promise, I'll take you guys to see the stars."

Sans smiled, "I'd appreciate that."

Hazel managed a small smile.

"What's the surface like?" he asked.

Hazel let out a small chuckle, "You know, your brother asked me the same thing last night… It's… big…" he started, "A lot like here, but the ceiling doesn't exist. There are… way more stars than you can comprehend. The moon is amazing. Sunsets, sun _rises_ …"

"How do those look?" Sans asked, "The sunsets and the sun rises."

"They turn the skies pink, orange, purple… a lot of people say they're the best part of the day. My personal opinion… If there's a blackout, you can practically see the rest of the galaxy." He managed a small smile, "Absolutely beautiful…"

Sans smiled, his eyes lighting up, "Yeah… we _have_ to fix that portal…"

"Let's get to it." Hazel sat up quickly, shouting in pain out of the strain on his stomach.

Sans quickly sat up, "You alright?"

Hazel clutched his stomach and groaned, then threw out a thumbs-up indicating he was okay, "Fuckin' fantasic."

"Okay…" Sans nodded, then looked down at the ground, "Hey, it's kind of high up here…"

"And?" Hazel took a deep breath.

"How the heck did you get up here?" he asked, "Since you attacked that Dummy first."

"I jumped." Hazel said.

Sans laughed, "Good one."

"No- I'm serious." Hazel let out another deep breath and sat up straight.

"Holy crap, that had to have been… at _least_ a twenty-foot jump."

"Fifteen, give or take…" Hazel corrected him, "I climbed the rest of the way."

"That's crazy." Sans laughed.

"Sans, I'm half cat-monster, it's no big deal." Hazel said, then gathered the paperwork, "Put this back in the bag."

Sans slid the folder back into the back that he had with him. "Need help getting down?"

"Nah, I got it…" Hazel said.

"Okay." Sans shrugged and stood up.

Hazel stepped to the edge with a limp and looked down at the distance from where he stood and the ground, "This _is_ pretty high up…" he confirmed.

"You sure you got this?" Sans asked.

"Just worried about my leg." Hazel nodded. His body then stretched. Sans stepped back, surprised at the thin, cat-like monster, that stood almost twice his height. He had a bony frame, he now understood why he was confused for Sans, for those who had never seen him, at least. Hazel's cat-like ears stood straight up, tipped a deep blue that faded to white. The tufts of fur that flared from his cheeks and the top of his head were blue, along with his back, the sides of his arms and legs, his claws on his hands and feet, and the tip of his spaded tail. His face was flat, it almost appeared that he didn't have a nose, but the nostrils were just small slits. Four teeth protruded from the top of his mouth, only appearing to be part of his face. The inside two teeth were much smaller than the outside two, all very pointed. His cheekbones were very prominent. His eyes were very wide, black, vertical ovals, with yellow-to-orange-to-red irises with very thin slits for pupils. Sans smiled, now that remembered everything, he was able to say that he looked just like his mother.

Hazel crouched down to all fours and let his arms down in front of him.

Sans teleported on the ground beside Hazel's landing spot.

Hazel dropped down and caught himself with his hands, slowly lowering his legs and feet to the ground. His eyes squeezed shut and his ears flattened to his head.

"Now I understand why people would confuse your description with mine." Sans winked.

The cat-like monster shrunk back down to the human version of the being, who then knelt to grab his leg. "What- a bony, blue and white monster?" he asked. "They should've just said 'cat' or 'skeleton'." He said, then he stood up.

Undyne flung the door open, "Hazel! I-" she paused, seeing that Hazel and Sans were just outside the door. She sank, "Listen… I'm sorry about your dad… Papyrus is completely heartbroken too… H-he tried to… he tried to help him, but…"

Hazel looked down, "Don't be sorry…" he growled, then he turned around, "Those bastards are the ones that killed him… not you…" then he sighed, "I don't want Papyrus feeling bad either."

"I'll go in and talk to him…" Sans said and stepped inside. Alphys sat in the kitchen next to Papyrus, who was sobbing hysterically. He rubbed the back of his skull and took a deep breath. "Paps…" he breathed.

Alphys turned around to look at the older brother, she exchanged a sad glance with him and went back to trying to comfort Papyrus, who had his face buried in his arms.

Sans sat on the other side of Papyrus, placing an arm over his shoulders, "C'mon, Paps…" he said.

"I- I tried, Sans!" Papyrus hiccupped, "I tried to save him… But…" he sobbed, "He still… he still died…" he cried, "I couldn't save him! What's Hazel gonna think of me!?"

"He's not mad at you, trust me." Sans said, "He's mad at the other humans."

"I'll bet he hates me!" he wailed.

Sans shook his head, "Paps, look at me." He turned his body to face Papyrus, "Bro, look at me, okay?"

Papyrus sniffled and looked up at Sans. "What?"

"Hazel doesn't hate you… okay? And it wasn't your fault that Kurt… passed on." He said, "I-it's life…" he said, his eyes finally starting to water up. He'd only briefly saw Kurt as a child, but he still saw him as an uncle. "It is what it is… E-everything that lives… dies…" he managed a weak smile, "I'm not telling you to not mourn his loss… but I don't want you blaming yourself for it… you didn't kill him… okay?"

"B-but I was the one to dress his wounds." Papyrus said.

Sans nodded, "Trying to fix him is the opposite of hurting him." He smiled wider, "You did a good thing by trying to help."

Papyrus wiped his eye, "I did?"

Sans nodded, "And at least Kurt saw Hazel one more time before he died… right?" he asked, glanced at Alphys behind Papyrus. She was wiping her eyes at this point.

"R-right…"

"And if weren't for you… he wouldn't have… right?"

"Right." Papyrus smiled slightly.

"You did the best you could do…" Sans confirmed.

Papyrus nodded. "Yeah."

Undyne and Hazel stepped in, Hazel wiping his eyes and limping, using Undyne for support. Undyne was scratching the back of her neck. She took a deep breath, "Asgore ordered for Hazel to come see him." She looked at Sans, "That machine of yours is going to have to wait."

"Why does Asgore command to see him?" Alphys asked.

Undyne shrugged, "I don't know… but…" she took a deep breath, "He didn't sound too happy."

Hazel avoided eye contact with everyone. His face was reddened with grief and rage. He took a deep breath and looked down.

"When do we have to leave?" Papyrus asked.

"Immediately." Undyne said, "We'll have to get a ride from the River Person to get to Hotland. We'll have to walk the rest of the way…" she explained.

"What about Mettaton?" Alphys asked, "He's still out there."

Undyne shrugged, "I don't know… If Asgore has been able to avoid him, then maybe we'll be lucky."

"And the humans?" Sans asked, "What about them? We still haven't found them."

"There's three out there…" Papyrus confirmed, "That's what Kurt told us…"

"I'll handle the humans…" Hazel finally spoke up. All of the attention was turned to him. His eyes were shadowed by his bangs, yet they seemed to glow a bright orange, much like the color Sans saw on his monster form. "They killed Mom, they killed Dad… There isn't a change in hell that I'd let them kill you guys too…"

**Hazel took a dark turn. I think. That's how his character initially supposed to be though. I was going to wait to kill Kurt- but I really thought about how to continue this scene and... This was the only outcome. Anything else would have been forced or wouldn't make much sense. Thanks for sticking to this story! Stay awesome folks!**


	11. Chapter 11

The five managed to fit themselves on the River Person's small boat. Hazel pressed himself as close to everyone as he could, trying to stay away from the water. His ears were lowered and his eyes hardly blinked.

"Beware of the man who speaks in hands…" the River Person said.

Sans took note of this comment. He felt like he should've known who he was talking about.

"Things are not always as they seem." The River Person added.

The boat splashed, causing Hazel to yelp and flinch. Papyrus looked down at him and put an arm around him, keeping him stable and stationary. Hazel looked up at him nervously.

"Will you be okay?" Papyrus asked.

Hazel nodded hesitantly, "Y-yeah… I'm scared of falling off…" he said.

"Come on, kid, you were just talking big shit about the humans just a few minutes ago." Undyne chuckled "You're scared of just a little water?"

"I can't swim." Hazel answered.

Undyne blew a raspberry, "Alright then, how about this: If you fall in, I jump in and grab you, okay?"

Hazel nodded, "Alright…" he sighed. He then froze, feeling someone playing with his hair. He straightened up as whoever's hands brushed against his back. "Who's touching me!?" he finally barked.

Alphys giggled, "Your hair's really pretty."

Hazel turned red, then glared at Sans, who was starting to laugh, "Shut up, Sans." He growled, "What are you doing back there, anyways?"

"Braiding it." She answered simply.

Undyne watched her closely as she weaved Hazel's ink black hair into a braid. "Why won't you do this to _my_ hair?" Undyne asked.

"Because you won't let me." Alphys grumbled.

" _This_ is a braid?!" Undyne asked, causing Sans to chuckle.

Papyrus watched closely, "Undyne, here." He sat behind her and began braiding her hair.

Hazel tried pulling away, "Please don't braid my hair…" he said, undoing the braid.

"Aw, why not?" Alphys pouted.

"I just don't like braids…" he answered.

"Okay." Alphys shrugged, then looked over at Papyrus, "No, like this:" she reworked the braid into Undyne's hair.

Sans watched in front of the boat as they approached Hotland. He stood up as the River Person docked, nodded to thank them, and stepped off with Hazel at his side. Shortly, Alphys, Undyne, and Papyrus met with them. The River Person bowed, "Good luck…" then they rowed off.

They took a moment to study how abandoned the area was. Trash laid all over the place, small piles of dust lay scattered about.

"I-It's depressing… isn't it?" Alphys finally spoke up. "Th-this is all my fault…" she twiddled her fingers, Mettaton… he-"

Undyne put a hand on her shoulder and took a deep breath, "That damn kid screwed up Mettaton… not you." She said.

Hazel started forward cautiously, limping noticeably. He looked around and found the spot where he was attacked by the murderous robot. His ears lowered, barely seeing spots of blood near the path to their left. He realized how close he was to Alphys' lab. But now that he thought about it- he was thankful he turned back, now realizing that Alphys wouldn't have been home anyways. His ears twitched.

"I shut down all of the obstacles here." The reptilian monster said, "It should be easier to get across." She said.

"What about all of the areas with gaps?" Sans asked, "Sure, I can teleport… but you guys can't jump those gaps."

"We'll use our magic." Papyrus suggested. "We'll make bridges with bones!"

"That can work." Undyne fanned herself.

The walk took longer than expected. Every so often, Sans and Papyrus would kneel at a gap and make a temporary bridge, allowing the other to cross. There was very little conversing- they didn't have much to talk about to each other. Hazel eventually began to fall over more often. Every time someone asked, he'd insist that he was okay.

"Let us know if you need help, okay?" Alphys let him stand up.

Hazel nodded, "We almost there?" he asked.

"Just a couple more rooms." Sans answered.

Papyrus looked down at Sans, "How often are you here?"

"More than you think- I have a hot dog stand here." Sans answered simply. "Haven't been here since the Mettaton thing though…" he shrugged.

"Speaking of… where is he?" Undyne asked, looking down at Alphys.

Alphys shuddered, "I don't know… we would've run into him by now…"

There was a thud behind them. They turned around and saw that Hazel had collapsed again, but this time, he wasn't getting up.

"Hazel?" The skeletons gasped and rushed to his side.

Alphys felt Hazel's face, "He's overheated…" she said, "We have to hurry." She pulled him up and almost fell over. Papyrus caught them. "I'll carry him." He said.

"No, Paps. Your armor's gonna burn him." Alphys shook her head, It's probably really hot by now. Undyne, can you carry him?" she asked.

"I can barely carry myself." She replied, panting and standing hunched over.

"I'll carry him." Sans said and carried him piggyback. "We're almost there anyways."

"The resort water fountain might still be running." Alphys noted.

"Thank god…" Undyne groaned and continued walking. "Sans, can't you just teleport us there?"

"I have a limit, you know." Sans grumbled, "One person at a time, and I don't know how the resort would look like at this point. I could teleport us into a wall and kill us all." He said, "What good would that do?"

Undyne coughed, instead of groaning like she had intended. She stumbled for a moment. Papyrus grabbed her arm to keep her from falling. He took off his scarf and wrapped her arm, then pulled it over his shoulder so he could support her. Undyne looked up at him and smiled, "Thanks, Paps."

"Anytime." Papyrus smiled wide.

They reached the resort and approached the doors, which happened to be barricaded.

Sans' eye glowed brightly and a large bone shattered the resort front doors. He stepped warily into the lobby, seeing that everything was intact, even the water fountain. Undyne jumped off Papyrus' shoulder and started for the fountain- but she collapsed instead. Papyrus helped her stand up and walked her to the fountain, standing her under the stream.

Sans sat Hazel against the fountain and splashed water over him, causing the teen to jump. "You okay there, buddy?"

Hazel took a deep breath and rubbed his face, "What happened?" he asked.

"You passed out from the heat." Sans answered, "We're at the resort. From here, we can get to Asgore with the elevator here." he said, "There's some water right here, rehydrate."

Hazel turned around and climbed into the fountain, sitting fully in the water. The fountain was shallow enough to sit comfortably- since the water only came halfway up his chest. He cupped some water into his hands and drank as much as he could. He then splashed his face and the back of his neck. He looked over and saw that Undyne was lying completely underwater, a look of contentment took over her face. He sighed, the cool water soothed the pain in his left leg and the cut across his stomach. His ear began twitching, hearing something strange, "H-hey… does anyone else hear that?" he asked.

The other looked at him in confusion, save for Undyne, who remained underwater. "What?"

"Someone's here." He stood up and looked around.

Alphys grew tense, "Uh-oh…" she whimpered.

"D-do you think it's Mettaton?" Papyrus asked nervously.

Sans' eyes darkened comepletely. He lowered his head and grew defensive.

"No." Hazel shook his head, "This sounds nothing like him." He said, then he stepped out of the fountain and started limping for the two golden double doors with menus posted by the walls. He gently pushed one of the doors open, the noise he heard then became more clear and was identified as whimpering.

"Get back!" A brown-orange, cat-like monster jumped from behind the counter, gun in hand and aimed straight for Hazel, "Y-you're not Mettaton." He let out a sigh of relief and lowered the gun. His ears flattened against his head, "But you're a human!" he looked like he spent too much time trapped here at the resort cafeteria. His red and yellow uniform shirt was ripped and slightly burned, and only partially tucked into his black slacks. Bags under his eyes indicated that he most likely hardly slept.

"Half!" Hazel threw his hands up in surrender. "I'm only half-human. I'm a monster too." He explained.

The monster lowered his weapon, "Half monster?"

Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, and Undyne ran in behind Hazel. Alphys gasped, "Burgerpants?" she asked, identifying the uniformed young man.

The former employee rolled his eyes and dropped his hands to his sides, "I _have_ an actual name, you know…" he complained, "Nobody's called me that in a year… Not since Mettaton went haywire." He grumbled and leaned against the counter, setting the handgun down.

"Wh-why are you here?" Alphys asked, "I- I thought everyone was evacuated…"

"Except me and this other girl…" he hopped over the counter and sat down with his legs dangling over the front. "But uh… she died a few months ago…" he explained, "I'm still here because I'm trying to fix Mettaton." He glared at Alphys, "Since I'm the only one who seemed to care enough to."

Alphys sank. Undyne stepped in front of her, "Listen, punk, Mettaton attacked her _first_ and fucked up her eye, okay? She's lucky to _alive_ right now."

"Whatever…" the cat grumbled. He took a deep breath, "What are _you_ guys doing here?" he asked, lighting a cigarette.

"We're just passing through." Papyrus answered simply, "King Fluffybuns wanted to see the kid."

'Burgerpants' looked down at Hazel, "And why?"

Papyrus shrugged, "We don't know… but apparently he didn't sound too happy."

The former employee exhaled a cloud of smoke, "Well, good luck…" he said, "The elevator's busted and Mettaton's in the core right now…" he said, flicking off some ashes.

"Great." Undyne rolled her eyes.

"But I've figured out his pattern by now…" he dropped his cigarette and stepped down on it.

"Does the King know you're here?" Hazel finally spoke up.

He scoffed, "No. Pretty sure he wouldn't care anyways…" he rolled his eyes, "Not even fucking Catty cared about whether or not I was evacuated. And I saved her sorry ass…" he growled, "Bet they don't even know my _real_ name." he threw his hands into the air, "Nobody cares about Ron, do they!?" he roared. Then he let out a sigh, "Whatever… I'll walk with you guys to the core." He said, "I'll help you out with Mettaton." He said and straightened up,

"I care about you!" Papyrus hugged Ron, "Assuming your name is, in fact, 'Ron'…" he squinted.

"Yeah, it is." His ear lowered and he put an arm around Papyrus in response. "Sans, this is your brother?" he asked.

Sans nodded, "Oh yeah- you guys never met." he smiled.

"Hate to break up this…" Undyne waved her arms around, "Whatever this is, but… we're in a bit of a rush to see the King, and Mettaton might even decide to start coming back in this direction."

"No doubt about it." Ron confirmed. He cocked his handgun and held it at his hip, "Let's get going…" he followed everyone out, walking beside Hazel, who trailed in the back, "So… you're half monster?" he asked.

Hazel nodded in confirmation, "Yeah, I'm uh… I don't know if you know who this is… but I'm Evangeline's son." He said.

Ron shook his head, "I've heard that name once or twice, but… I can't say I know her. All I know is that she was the Royal Inventor." He nodded, "That's cool though." He smirked.

"Y-Yeah…" Hazel looked down, "That uh… makes me half-cat monster though…"

"Oh yeah?" Ron nudged him playfully, "That'd make us brothers then, right?" he smiled.

Hazel let out a brief chuckle, "My monster form _barely_ looks like a cat… I'm taller than Papyrus by a head. At least." He explained, hissing in pain and stumbling for a moment.

Ron stepped forward and caught him, "You gonna be alright?" he asked, "Your leg looks pretty screwed up there."

Hazel nodded, "I'll be fine."

"Hey, uh… Ronnie." Undyne stopped the group and turned to the smoking cat, "You said that Mettaton's here?"

"He should be." He answered simply, "I'm surprised we haven't seen him yet actually."

Alphys turned around, haring something strange within the core. "Oh dear…" she began trembling.

Hazel turned to see and froze, as did the rest of the group, "Oh no…" he breathed.

" _O-O-O-OH YE-E-ESSS…_ " a broken, metallic voice purred.

**Yes. Burgerpants. Yes. I named him Ron. Know why? Because it came to me while I was at work and thinking of scenes. Undnye was gonna make fun of him and call him 'Ronald McEdgy', and it stuck. Reviews are helpful! So let me know what you think about this! Stay awesome folks!**


	12. Chapter 12

Sans quickly stepped in front of Papyrus, intending to protect him from Mettaton. The sight of the once-idolized robotic celebrity now terrified them. Sans knew that Papyrus looked up to Mettaton for the longest time, but now the bot stood in front of them with the intent to kill.

Papyrus took Sans' shoulder and stepped in front of him, determination filling his eyes to protect his older brother. His gaze narrowed on Mettaton.

Mettaton's head sat at a strange angle on his shoulders, one of the shoulder guards that he had been built with was completely missing, while the remaining left one was only cracked. His head was cracked open, revealing his circuiting with sparks flying from the open gap. He stumbled with a limp, his right hip having been clawed apart.

Hazel watched the celebrity approached them, shaking his head, thoroughly impressed that he could still walk, considering the claw marks that he had inflicted on him before.

"La-a-a-a-dies and Gentlem-m-m-men!" the robot boomed, "May I introduce to you to the one and _only -only-only_ Dr. Alphys! The kind an-an-and generous woman t-t-t-t-to make this show possible!" he announced.

Hazel leaned towards Ron, "Is he actually airing this?" he asked.

Ron shook his head, "The cameras had been shut down a long time ago. But… he doesn't know that. He basically lost his sanity when he fell."

Hazel nodded, then dropped to his hands and knees as he shifted forms. His blue and white form glared at Mettaton and lowered his ears.

The rest of the group excluding Sans marveled at the transformation, "H-Hazel?"

"I thought that took energy." Sans noted. Hazel snorted in response.

"Sans, get back. And take Alphys." Papyrus instructed.

"Paps…?" Sans asked.

"Stand back with Alphys…" Papyrus repeated.

"But I can-" Sans protested.

"No." Papyrus cut him off, "Stay with Alphys. Make sure she's alright."

"Papyrus, I can-"

"Sans, go!" Papyrus snapped. "Don't make me repeat myself again!"

Sans scrambled and pulled Alphys away from the fight. He sat Alphys down and knelt beside her.

"We-e-e-el-l-l-l! This is quite the- quite the- quite the game-changer here!" Mettaton announced, his glitched voice echoed, causing Hazel to cringe. "Back f-f-f-f-for another chal-l-l-l-lenge are we?!" he swung his arm and extended it, aiming for Hazel and Ron. Hazel shoved Ron out of the way, kicking himself in the other direction. He snarled, ducking under a rocket.

"Of-of-of course," Mettaton continued, electricity arcing from his center, "You'd be j-j-j-just as stupid as the _last_ hum-m-m-man to fall down here!" he sneered, "Prepa-a-a-are to meet your death, by glamour!" he laughed.

Papyrus rolled away from an arc of electricity, forming a bone in his hand to arm himself with a staff. He threw forward his hand and threw bones at Mettaton.

Hazel ducked under the bones Papyrus had thrown and rushed forward to swipe at Mettaton. Mettaton dodged the bones and Hazel's claws, quickly lifting a leg and kicking Hazel in the chest.

Undyne shot several spears at the robot, having each of them miss. She glanced over at Ron, who had been pointing the gun at Mettaton the entire time, but never shot, "Why aren't you shooting at him?!"

"This thing's only got one bullet, if I shoot and miss, we're fucked!" he snapped at her.

Mettaton kicked Hazel away, almost sending him over the edge. Hazel instead grabbed onto the edge of the platform and dug his claws into the flooring, his ears flattened against his head. He tried stepping up and climbing onto the platform, but his feet kept slipping.

Mettaton stood back up and sent out more electricity, arcing in every which way.

Undyne finally threw the 150th spear at him and knocked his left arm off. Papyrus threw several bones and knocked of his remaining arm. He glanced over and saw Hazel struggling to get back up on the platform. "Ron! Go pull Hazel back over the edge!" he commanded.

Ron looked at Papyrus, then looked over at Hazel, rushing over to pull him up. Before he could reach Hazel, Mettaton rushed over and kicked him, knocking him down and throwing the gun out of his hand.

"B-boss, come on…" Ron backed away nervously, "I-It's me…" he shook, "It's 'Ronnie', remember?" he backed away, his heart pounding in his chest and his breaths quick and uneven.

Mettaton continued to approach him.

Ron chuckled nervously, "B-Burgerpants?" he asked.

Mettaton seemed to freeze, as he stepped forward. He stared at Ron for a while, long enough for Undyne to rush over and pull Hazel back onto the platform. "R-R-R-R-R-on…" he spoke.

Ron managed a smile, "Y-yeah." He panted. "Yeah, it's me." He chuckled nervously.

Mettaton approached Ron slowly, stumbling as he walked. "I'm… so-r-r-r-rry…" he whispered with his broken, tinny, voice.

Ron smiled, "Met-" he breathed, "Mettaton, you're really hurt…" he brought himself back up to his feet, "You need repairs…" he said, holding his hands out cautiously to Mettaton.

Hazel and the others watched carefully, personally amazed at the sight of Ron finally getting Mettaton calm.

"Repairs…?" Mettaton asked, stopping and hesitating to take another step. His eyes flickered white, "Why-why-why repair something That-at-at isn't broken?" he asked, charging at Ron. A murderous look had returned in his eyes.

Hazel leapt and bounded to Mettaton, kicking him with all fours and sending him stumbling to the ledge. With no arms to catch himself with or to help regain his balance, he fell back and howled in fear on the way down.

"Mettaton!" Alphys screamed, Sans holding her back, "No!" she collapsed to her knees and sobbed.

Hazel panted sat down, holding his stomach and grunting in pain.

Ron stood shaking and staring at the ledge where Mettaton once stood. He blinked and looked down at Hazel, who had now changed back to him human form. He knelt by him, "Hey, uh… little buddy? Thanks…" he managed a nervous smile, "Y-you alright?" he asked, glancing at the teen's stomach.

Hazel took a deep breath and showed Ron the injury that had begun bleeding a little. "The bastard kicked me…" he said. "Reopened the stitches… J-just a little bit…"

Ron sank, "Come on…" he helped Hazel to his feet.

Papyrus approached the two, "Everything alright?" he asked.

"He's hurt. Mettaton kicked him and reopened his stitches a little." Ron answered.

"Let me take him." Papyrus took Hazel and carried him.

Undyne knelt to hug Alphys, "I'm sorry, babe…"

"I-It was…. It was for the best…" she sobbed, "H-he wouldn't have wanted…" she coughed, "He would have wanted it anyway…he would've been… t-terrified of what he had become… he… he didn't want any of that…" she took a deep breath and wiped her eyes, hugging Undyne back. "But…" she let go and stood up, "Asgore is waiting for us. W-we shouldn't keep him waiting…" she continued through the core.

The others watched her leave and shrugged, following her.

Their next destination was a greyscale area similar to the ruins, Hazel noticed. The house they finally reached was identical to Toriel's. Papyrus set Hazel down on the floor and wandered forward with Undyne, Alphys and Ron. Sans trailed behind and walked with Hazel. "Hey, uh… kid?" he asked.

"What's up?" Hazel stumbled, but was caught by Sans.

"I know you're not in the right condition… but…" he shuddered.

"You okay?" Hazel asked.

"Something's gonna happen…" Sans started, "Not sure what… but… promise me something, okay?"

"Uh… s-sure."

"If anything… and I mean _anything_ , happens to me…" his eyes darkened, "And I'm not around anymore…" he took a deep breath, "Keep an eye out for Paps, will ya?" he asked.

Hazel's ears lowered, "U-uh…" he sank, "Yeah. Of course." He said, "J-just… don't let anything happen to you, okay?"

"No promises…" Sans' tone lowered. "But I'll try. W-with my ribs… I can't afford to take a hit anyways…"

Hazel nodded, "I promise. You guys have been nothing but nice and accepting to me, I can at least do that for you."

They began walking down a long, wide hallway. The corridor glowed orange from the stained glass at the side of the room. Sans shuddered again and his left eye began glowing blue. "Hate this place…" he muttered.

Papyrus met with the two, "Asgore wanted to see the _monster_ responsible for the confusion."

"That means you gotta _look_ like a monster, kid." Undyne turned to look at him

Hazel sighed and changed forms, standing a head and a half taller than Papyrus, who happened to be the tallest of the monsters at the moment. He wobbled and continued behind the others. His heart jumbled in his chest, nervous to meet King Asgore. He took a deep breath and proceeded into the throne room. In front of them, a large, goat-like monster wearing a purple cloak, knelt in front of them and watered the flowers.

"King Asgore." Undyne stepped forward, "We brought the monster that we mistook for Sans."

The king seemed to tense, "Thank you…" he said. His tone seemed lifeless. He stood up, standing barely taller than Hazel. "Tell me…" he started, not turning around, but staying focused to the doorway in front on him. "Why have you brought the humans down here?" he asked.

Undyne stood up, "Asgore, it's Evangeline's son."

Asgore froze and turned around, "I never knew Evangeline had a child." He stepped toward them and looked Hazel over. "My goodness, you look exactly like her." He said, checking his ears and circling him. "Who's your father? I'll bet it was-"

"It was a human named Kurt." Undyne answered.

"What?" Asgore turned to look at Undyne, "But that would make him-"

"Half human." Papyrus answered, taking a step forward, "King Asgore, the humans chased him down here."

"After they killed Evangeline." Sans added.

Hazel's ears dropped and flattened against the back of his head, "They… they killed my dad, too… he… died last night."

"So Kurtis _did_ die, didn't he?" a new, unfamiliar voice entered the room. "We weren't too sure."

Everyone turned to the doorway they had just entered from, they watched three humans step in, each in uniforms of some sort. One of them, Hazel was able to recognize as a police officer. He seemed to be leading the trio. The other two appeared to be dressed in jumpsuits that were slightly baggy. They weren't meant for rummaging through the mountains, but they were worn regardless. They appeared to be scientists. All three of the humans were covered in dust.

"He was useless. 'Evangeline' this, 'Hazel' that. 'Gaster', 'Vivaldi', 'the boys', the bastard never shut up." The officer said, "We had to snuff out whatever hope he had…." Then he shrugged, "Beat that little bastard within inches of his life and ditched him with the angry fish lesbian so she'd finish him off." He then glared at Undyne, "Turned out she was on his side."

"H-how did you-?" Undyne asked, horrified that they knew, without her knowing.

"Give us the Hybrid." He held out his hand, "And we'll be on our way." He demanded.

Hazel's ears flattened, then he turned to look at the others. He sighed and looked down, shrinking back down to his human form.

"Hazel…" Undyne stepped forward.

"Kid… don't…" Ron shook his head.

Hazel glared at the humans, "You guys… killed… so many people just to get to me…" he growled, clenching his fist, "Why? Why am I _that_ important to get to?"

"Don't play dumb child, you _know_ where the lab is!"

"What fucking lab!?" Hazel barked, "I don't know what you're talking about!" he cried.

"Your monster scum of a mother had a lab and you _know_ it, we need you to find it!"

Hazel's eyes turned black, glowing a fiery orange. He snarled at the officer, "My mother was not scum!" he roared and charged at the officer, swinging his claws at him.

The officer caught his wrist and stopped his attack, "Your father was disgusting for having married a monster like her." He then punched Hazel in the wound on his stomach, causing for him to cough blood, "That makes you garbage." He released Hazel's wrist and allowed for him to fall to the ground, crumpled in pain.

"Kid!" Ron barked and ran forward, fists ready. One of the scientists shot at him. He staggered, the bullet going straight through his head. His body had turned to dust before he hit the ground. All that remained was his work uniform and the hand gun he carried.

"Anyone else coming to test us?" the officer asked.

Sans made an attempt to step forward, but Asgore grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

"I thought so…" he picked up the handgun that Ron had dropped, "Let's go…" he said, aiming the gun at the group of monsters as he slung Hazel's unconscious form over his shoulder, "We have what we need." He said and walked through the pile of dust that was once Ron.

**So... Basically had an anxiety attack... for a week. That was fun, and distracted me, plus I was moving to my first apartment, so... yeah. That and I had no idea as to how to write the fight with Mettaton. Anyway... So... I apologize in advance... Stay awesome, folks!**


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